Esther Freixa Rafols
In 2005, she graduated in Dramatic Arts from the Theatre Institute of Barcelona. Between 2006 and 2009, she continued her training in dance and physical theater in Catalonia and Berlin, studying under various artists and companies. From 2010 to 2012, she regularly trained in Body Weather with Andrés Corchero-Rosa Muñoz and Biovoz with Víctor Turull, deepening her work in 2015 on “The Body of the Voice.” Additionally, since 2005, she has practiced yoga, meditation, and Vedic chanting, and since 2012, she has traveled to South India to learn the martial art Kalaripayattu with the Hindustan Kalari Sangam and Kalarigram.
She collaborates as a performer with various companies and independent artists, and since 2007 she has collaborated with actor, researcher, and director Toni Cots. Between 2011 and 2015, she participated in a regular laboratory on collaborative practices based on the body with other artists and interested individuals, which they resumed in 2020 until today. With Toni Cots, she has created the solo pieces “Médée (à la carte)” presented since 2009 with over 150 performances, “30 ans, un acte poétique de résistance” presented since 2015 with 26 performances, and in November 2023 they will create their third piece ‘Errancia, paysages de mémoire’.
Similarly, she provides artistic support for several stage creators, directs various projects, teaches courses, workshops, and classes on the body, movement, and voice, and applies her individual research according to the needs of each individual.
Since 2015, she has introduced the practice of Kalaripayattu in Spain through regular classes, intensive workshops, and retreats where she integrates Kalari with other disciplines such as meditation, Vedic chanting, yoga, and explorations of the body and nature.
She has performed and taught workshops in Spain, Italy, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Lebanon, and India.
Since 2006, she has managed various spaces supporting the creation, research, training, and exhibition of performing arts in her hometown of Mollet del Vallès, near Barcelona. She is a founding member of CRA’P – practices of artistic creation and research.
Website links: www.cra-p.org www.medealacarta.org www.treintaños.org