'Sueños-2' by Armin Heinemann: a fusion of tango and butoh in Ibiza

The versatile architect, artist, and designer of fashion, opera, and events, Armin Heinemann, presents his new work, Sueños-2, at the Ibiza Conference Center in Santa Eulària this Sunday, November 1. This opera combines dance, operatic music, tango, and butoh in a production that will surprise the audience with its quality, spectacularity, and magnificent staging.

Heinemann has 60 years of professional experience in the fields of fashion design and artistic creation, as well as a 35-year career in theater, where he has enjoyed extraordinary success thanks to his professional caliber and artistic sensibility.

In 2019, he created a fusion of butoh and tango dance that has continued to captivate audiences ever since. This creative duality has allowed him, in his own words, “to elevate the audience above their own minds, transporting them to a dreamlike state.” Those who saw last year’s production will enjoy the new staging, while those who have yet to experience it will be captivated by the magic of the moment and the extraordinary emotional journey that unfolds on stage. It is a show you cannot miss, thanks to its creative richness, variety, and staging.

The success of the previous edition validates this new production from Sueños-2, which returns with a renewed version and established artists such as Verónica Palacios and Oscar Quiroga of Tango Armado, and Matilde J. Ciria, under the artistic direction of Armin.

Heinemann’s avant-garde vision and the positive reception the production has received have encouraged him to bring it to the Teatro Principal in Basel, Switzerland, and the Pina Bausch Theatre in Germany. “I am extremely fortunate to be able to work with a group of artists who are very professional and of a very high artistic caliber. The results of our work are always sublime in quality, very creative, and very inspiring,” says the director.

In 2006, Heinemann founded the Ibiza Opera Festival, of which he is president and stage director, together with Stuart Rudnick, who is in charge of set design. His productions have received enthusiastic reviews in the magazine Ópera Actual, which has placed the Ibiza festival on the same level as the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. He has also worked as an opera director in Havana, Panama, and Barcelona.

Armin was also one of Ibiza’s most renowned fashion designers during the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. He founded the legendary Paula’s shop, located in the heart of the La Marina neighborhood in Ibiza’s old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paula’s became a symbol of creativity, freedom, extravagance, and avant-garde fashion on the island. Some of the most prominent figures of several decades passed through its doors, sporting its striking designs and creations in black and vibrant colors.

She has also collaborated with designer JW Anderson on several collections for the Loewe brand, contributing her original prints and helping to design the store interiors.

When I arrived in Ibiza in 1972, I founded the store Paula’s together with Stuart Rudnick. We turned it into a legendary venue and the most famous and extravagant shop in Ibiza. For ten years we worked closely with the luxury fashion house Loewe, helping the Paula’s Ibiza brand achieve great international recognition,“ recalls Armin.

In 1990, a 14-year collaboration began as a set designer for the productions of the great ballerina Alicia Alonso and the National Ballet of Cuba. With his production of Cinderella, choreographed by Pedro Consuegra, the National Ballet of Cuba succeeded in 1995 in breaking the U.S. cultural embargo, in place since 1960, and took the show on tour to Los Angeles, Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. The production later toured various stages in Europe and Japan.