• Controversy: Culture sanctions the director of the Dance Company for using "on a private basis" public choreography and costumes

Within the chapter of paradoxes of Spanish culture, a striking coincidence took place on Monday: at the same time the name of José Carlos Martínez was announced as responsible for the choreographies that will accompany the next New Year's concert in Vienna (the first Spanish in dealing with this work), the Ministry of Culture confirmed a double sanction against him for an alleged irregularity committed while he was director of the National Dance Company (CND).

It all goes back to last February, during the 30th anniversary gala of the Sapporo Art Park Ballet Seminar in Japan, held in the Japanese town. There would have been several dancers of the CND with costumes of the Company whose rent was not charged and, always according to the ministry, dancing choreographies of the CND.

After opening the file, the National Institute of the Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) notified two types of sanctions. In the case of five dancers, it was found that "they had requested compatibility authorizations and had been granted in a timely manner, so the file of the files was agreed", while in the case of five others, "as they had requested the authorization of compatibility for the exercise of private activities after attending the aforementioned gala, they have been imposed a slight penalty consisting of a written warning. "

Dancers of the Vienna Opera, during the recording of the choreography for New Year.

For José Carlos Martínez, who gave the CND address to Joaquín de Luz on Saturday, "INAEM has decided to impose two sanctions: A slight sanction, consisting of a warning after proving that two ballet costumes were used in the Gala 'Nutcracker' ', property of INAEM, without proper authorization; and a serious offense for having included in the repertoire that two choreographies were represented (' Ballet Don Quijote 'and' Nutcracker '), whose ownership corresponds exclusively to INAEM, without being requested proper authorization to the agency ".

In statements to EL MUNDO, Martínez assumes the loan of the costumes ("with the salary that the dancers have, we thought that they could lend them the costumes for free and we did not want to charge them , it was not an oversight or negligence"), but He denies that protected choreographies were used: "What has been danced were not choreographies of INAEM," he says . "'Don Quijote' is a choreography that is danced in all the companies of the world and there are a thousand versions. Mine wears a wardrobe, a few steps in space and is set in a certain way. But each dancer, in a gala, decides dance what you want and do your own choreography. They are called the same, but everyone dances it as you want. "

Although INAEM stresses that Martinez has 10 days to make the appropriate allegations, the choreographer and former 'Danseur Étoile' of the Paris Opera stresses that he has already made his allegations: "I proposed to send the video of the gala and even that there was a viewing of the choreographies so they could see that Don Quijote's was danced according to the St. Petersburg Kirov and not the CND. "

For this reason, he does not want to turn the matter over: "This is part of being a director of a company and of the 'pit' between the Administration and the artistic activity"

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