The two artistic creators spent two weeks working at the Auditorio before presenting their work to the public this Thursday (February 19)
La Salita will host this Thursday (February 19) the results of the artistic residency carried out by Claudia Valentina and Virgen at the Auditorio de Tenerife. Just Pray + X is the title of the performance, to be shown at 7.30 p.m. This residency for Canarian creators in the performing arts is organised in collaboration with the Laboratorio de Artes Vivas y Ciudadanía de Canarias (LAV-C), led by cultural administrator Beatriz Bello and artist Darío Bardam.
The performances Just Pray by Claudia Valentina and X by Virgen are shown together in the La Salita hall as two contemporary rituals that explore the construction of identity in an age of constant exposure. Both pieces occupy the ambiguous space between the person and the character and ask how we perceive ourselves while we are being perceived, desired and judged by others.
From two different yet complementary places, the artists open portals to the intimate and the public. Just Pray—created, directed, and performed by Claudia Valentina—speaks of image worship and social networks as a new, modern religion. Impeccable hair, perfect makeup and trending bodies are held as commandments that require sacrifice. Through rituals broadcast live (a live Instagram feed and a TikTok video filmed onstage), the performance reveals the physical and emotional cost of regarding oneself as perfect, while pointing out the power and violence behind the perception of reality through digital media.
Meanwhile, X is an audio-visual show that invites us to embark on a journey into one’s inner world. Through music, the body, and the image, a portal opens, revealing that which usually remains hidden: the unknown, the prohibited, the problematic. But it also reveals the explicit, the desired, the impulsive and the squalid that exist inside us. This show presents the artist’s first album and, at the same time, an act of intimate exposure that penetrates various layers, crossing through emotions and experiences. Virgen directs and performs this piece, which also features dancers Aday Ramos, Anyelo Conde, Axel La Serna, and Iván Sosa.
Just Pray and X address the body as political and emotional territory, subjected to endless struggles between desire, control, and exposure. The stage is transformed into a ritual space in which the intimate becomes collective, and the public is not only spectators but also an active part of the perception that constructs and consumes identities.
This residency proposes a reflection on how we inhabit our own images, how we turn them into characters in order to survive, and what happens when we decide to reveal or shatter this artifice.
Claudia Valentina is a creator and performer who was born in Venezuela and raised in the Canary Islands. After forging a career between Madrid and several international settings, she has found her true home on the stage. Combining movement, aesthetics and visual universes, she creates pieces that juxtapose sensuality and vulnerability. She is a proponent of interdisciplinary dialogue and art as an emotional space rather than a dogmatic one. She seeks to connect with the public with an honest approach, to awaken something within, and to bring dance closer to those who see it from a distance.
Virgen is a multidisciplinary artist who embraces a range of expressions. Singer, drag queen, creative director, composer, designer and master of ceremonies are among the roles Virgen has taken on. The most recent winner of the Dragnaval drag-queen gala of the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Virgen is a well-known figure on the drag scene. Her presence has made inroads in a context in which cisgender women remain underrepresented, giving rise to needed discourse about gender, identity and breaking away from traditional stereotypes.
Her artistic style, characterised by irreverence, provocation and boldness, is charged with stage presence and attitude. Virgen combines diverse musical references with powerful aesthetics, creating a language that is uniquely her own and challenges the status quo. An intense and transformative experience intended to disturb and question the public, leaving no spectator indifferent.