In a forest clearing in the verdant outskirts of Cartagena, dancers move slowly to instrumental music, their movements mirroring the swaying of the trees. The performers are members of the Cuerpo de Indias, a professional dance company affiliated with the Colegio del Cuerpo dance school, which earlier this year celebrated the opening of its first permanent home, an outdoor campus 15 minutes north-east of the city.
Occupying four hectares (nine acres) of land donated by the mayor’s office of Cartagena, the campus is dotted with striking slatted wooden buildings made from recycled or repurposed materials, including a 12m-high domed performance space shaped like a termite mound, called the Athanor. Around the buildings are sculptures made of wood, shells and scrap metal by the dancer and choreographer Álvaro Restrepo, co-founder of the school.
