I came embarrassed to the first dinner in Aulesti, on the night of April 16, to the new society of the hostel. I didn't know anybody, nor me. I was embarrassed, on the one hand, that I had completely started the theater, almost inexperienced. And on the other hand, because I didn't mean to my peers that I would write this chronicle from the very beginning, counting from within ADEL for ARGIA. Actually, I wasn't going to work as a journalist, but to dedicate myself to the theater, to try willingly. I was ashamed of the lack of habit. Therefore, I could not break it except in the exercise.

We started the week in a group of fourteen people, like shy animals, with a few unique class hours from the Unai brothers and Garazi López de Armentia. Along with them we have spent most of the week, awakening and cultivating the body, with what begins and ends the work of the actress. Through breathing, senses and rhythm, we've been slowly fusing together, each with his body and slowly discovering the environment, the bodies of the peers, the forces that we interact together. We have played with the seriousness with which children play. We have taken some steps of yoga and dance, or at least we have tried with desire; thus, with tiredness, the union of the group has been consolidated, without realizing it.

Lunch happened soon after morning classes and almost immediately after the meal, after the breath, the next school arrived. Four and four, about eight hours a day, for six days, think about ... In any case, as we have been at ease, we have pressed each other, each at its own pace, in the tight schedule. To act, we have also taken action at this intense pace, going up and down a single street in Aulesti, from back to forth, from work to rest and vice versa. But on the first day, unusually, I was surprised by the school on the table. “Enjoy being funny.”

Pablo Ibarluzea was clown and pedagogue. His behavior upset me, shook me, shook my bowels and stirred my thinking. And even though it sounds like a lie in saying the above, I've really enjoyed it. Through practical exercises, with rigorous comments, he has taught us more clearly the idea that we should not be afraid of failure, let alone ridicule. That we all have a stupid under the mask – you too, reader – a clown that we try to hide in some way. Once we've found it, we can learn to take pride in that idiot and use it to make people laugh, that is, to delight. Ridicule, in fact, is wonderful when someone else does it.

Bridge and quarry

I have been hallucinated by the level of knowledge of teachers and their ability to work. All of them have learned and worked outside the Basque Country, and it is a luxury to be able to receive in Basque the fruits of this experience. For example, the last teacher we had, Amancay Gaztañaga, was really illustrative and helpful. Through concrete exercises, we discover the obstacles of thought and, overcoming them, we begin to learn to corporalize the text so we begin to become aware of the expressive gesture.

In addition to these teachers, we had the opportunity to start meeting Iñigo Ibarra, from Markina, in school hours, in meals, etc. Precisely, Iñigo is the person who brings to life the actor Ander Lipus and his characters. When they see it at work, when they work with it, they understand more easily why a theatrical environment like yours is breathed in the environment, and what fundamental work it does: to have an effective bond, to sew networks.

I've noticed a lot of talent and enthusiasm among my peers. ADEL has clearly shown me that we can do the best theater, without any shame, from where we are, how we are. Of the same person, in group or alone, always in a free network. That you can do theater in the people, with the people and in Euskera. What I have valued most deeply is the last: all the immersion in the arts of theatre, from the beginning to the end, has been in Basque.

Network on the street

I've had the image of the network circling around the hull all week -- non-cyber. At Aulesti we've all been one on the same network. From the youngest to the oldest population, whether it's a visitor to the area or remoteness, diverse workers, collaborators, organizers -- of course, also students. In the network, all the links basically have the same function: sewing. But unions don't have to be rigid or reciprocal, but they can also be free relationships, let's say, like two hands that are handed over and released.

As you know, Aulesti only has one street, but hundreds of roads converge in it, although metaphorically. The more roads you open in the street, of course, the stronger the network. The strength of the accumulated work of the years has already been noted: its roots in the village give a special shine to its theatrical environment. Even this one who didn't know Aulesti, who didn't know exactly what ADEL was, he noticed it right away. In my ignorance, I came up with a general idea, with a little intuition -- but all foresight that I've seen, heard and lived has been destroyed.

After school hours, after dinner, every night we have had the opportunity to enjoy a play in Basque – sometimes two –. It has been very interesting for students to see on stage and on the street works directed or represented by our teachers and fellow travellers. I didn't expect those lines every night, crowded theatrical performances, most of the time overflowing. In some cases, the new seats have had to be improvised so that all the public can have access to the room. In addition, the members of the local Gazte Asanblada have prepared an alternative theatre program with performances and concerts in the gaztetxe and the plaza.

It highlights the quality of all works and the variety of proposals. But perhaps the most surprising thing: start to realize the many possibilities and the enormous potentials that the Basque theatre has. Today, there's an impressive level, and it comes from the top. It will always be above all shrubs, facing the lack of interest of those who manage public money from the Basques. So far, by shooting, hitting the void, the puppeteers themselves have carried out the small and plentiful quarries. This aulestic, for example, has already borne a lot of fruit, and you cannot yet guess what it is going to give in the future.

One (and empty)

I’ve been with the entire ADEL team for a week: we’ve met in work and leisure, tiredness and rest, joy and displeasure. We have come together, although we have not always agreed. They came together and separated, as free hands, feeding and drinking each other, breathing and giving each other away. These days I have taken a lot of theater and now I feel completely empty.

Today is 23 April. At this point, once the week is over, walking just one of the streets of Aulesti, I feel proud inside, quiet, at last. A week of shame for breaking the bridge, standing in the quarry, as usual. This series of experiences that I have wrapped up in my body gives me strength to keep walking along the paths of the theater. Here I've met a beautiful town working without shame, in the theater. I don't know what I'm talking about, reader. If you want to know, you know what to do.