A Little Bit of Background

Sarruga is a company with a 13-year history. It was born in 1994 from a concern and a very personal energy, driven by Pakito Gutiérrez, director and founder. The decision to do street shows arose from a very clear idea: to enlarge those small insects who have passion for their creator. That idea led him to get in an intense mechanical engineering and motor design, in order to transform those live minuscule insects into huge machines that look like they are alive. The motorization of the machines is perfectly designed to perform identical movements to those of real insects.

That idea is launched creating a new concept f show, a formula with an innovating language where the plastic part is the most important thing, basically playing with the visual and sound effects. The shows shape an argument; they are not empty in contents since they always contemplate a background, a message, a mirror of our society, a guideline that is constantly repeated in nature.

From that original idea with insects, it will be expanding its perspective (view point), and lithological animals (dragons) and marine animals will be created; and finally, it will enter again in a much more concrete world: the world of ants and the way they live.

The development of the company has followed a logical pace, taking into account the span (scope) of the creations: the creation of the show from previous outlines, designs, and many tests in the workshop, and equipped with personnel teams that have been trained and have learned how to work.

Thus, the shows have not stopped touring Europe, leaving for Colombia and Israel, thanks to the fine welcome of both the public and programmers that have found in this way to make a necessary proposal for formulas of great events and macro shows.

The objective of the shows is to transform the daily space, the street, in a fantasy World, change the Soutine, awaken curiosity, provide an incentive for our imagination and stimulate the people’s senses, immersed in a new perspective.

To achieve this, we use mechanical machines driven by people; these machines resemble giant insects, supported by electronic music, sequences that outline the mechanical movement of these insects and communication sounds.

The actual light of the insects gives them life and drags their movement through a space sometimes colored by external light and marked at special moments by pyrotechnical effects.

The smell of gunpowder and the mantric repetition of the electronic music evoke a party ritual

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Highlights

From the year 1994 until now, Sarruga has visited, opened and provided the closing act of numerous festivals and outstanding events that are a part of the culture of the street theater in numerous European cities, and has also left a trail in certain places on the other side of the Atlantic. It is difficult to develop a summary, but we will try to point out the events of the last few years:

Kings:Sitges, Madrid, Badalona, Barcelona, Murcia, Utrera, Alguer, Vigo, Sitges, etc...
Carnivals: Zaragoza, Madrid, Trento, Turin, Bordeaux, Milano, Bergamo, Valencia, Sta Coloma, Valladolid, Murcia, etc...

Openings of museums and buildings: Marine Museum of Santander, Science Museum of Valladolid, Valencia Oceanographic Museum, Caixa Sabadell, Diagonal Mar Park, Can Fabra Building, Museum of Arts and Sciences of Valencia, Avenida (Avenue) Costa Brava de Malgrat, Mercat de la Boqueria (Boqueria Market), Museu Víctor Balaguer (Victor Balaguer Museum) in Vilanova i la Geltrú, etc...

Major Events and trademarks: 2004 Barcelona FORUM, EXPO Hannover 2000, Lisbon EXPO 98, White Label Tour through several cities, etc...

Festivals: FITAM Chile, The Mayor’s Thames Festival London, Abbiategrasso, les 13 lunnes a Mallemort, Dortmund, Birmingham, Montceau, Le Chainon Mancuant a Figeac, Karlsruhe, Fête de la Mer Martigues, Liglio Bambino Florencia, Rockyssimomes en Sable sur sartre, Fira arrel tradicional Manresa (Traditional Manresa Grounds Fair), Factory Sevilla (Seville), Greenwich & Dockland Festival, Kilkenny, BITE, Thames Festival, Iberoamericano de Cadiz (Cadiz Ibero-American Festival), Festival de Cine de Terror Donosti (Donosti Terror Movie Festival), Fest. Invierno Edimburgo, Fest Luz Lyon, St Patrick’s fest., Streets Ahead Manchester, La fêt Nat, VI fest iberoamericano in Bogotá Colombia, Tel-Aviv, etc...

Fests: San Fermines, Misteri d’Elx, Bilbao, Llagostera, Sicilia, Torrelavega, Castelló, Magdalena Castelló, La Laia Barcelona, Madrid, La Mercè , Badalona, Ferrol, Andorra, etc...