Behind The Scenes: The Zoo Project performers Vicente, left, and Adriana backstage at The Zoo Project. The Zoo Project does things differently. Besides the flamboyant décor, finely tuned music policy and fancy dress, there's one aspect that really separates the party from the rest of the island: its performers. From ballet and fire breathing to capoiera and breakdance, the party flips the traditional concept of the Ibiza dancer on its head. To hear more, we caught up with three team members: Vicente Calderon, Adriana Arozamena and Suzi Powell. Can you all briefly introduce yourselves, describe your disciplines and say how long you've been working for The Zoo Project? Vicente Calderon: I'm Vicente, I'm from Ibiza and I've been working here for four years. I do various different things, including unicycling, jumping stilts and shows with exotic animals, like snakes, lizards and tarantulas. I also do balance exercises, like slug line. Adriana Arozamena: I'm Adriana, I'm a professional ballet dancer and I've been here for two years. The Zoo Project is a fun place to work. Coming from the world of ballet, getting to dance to electronic music en-pointe is totally different to anything I've done before. But I love being outside and being part of such a unique event. I'm curious as to how you all ended up here. Was it mostly by chance or did you come here with the intention of wanting to join the team? VC: I started with the snakes. It's a family business, run by my father. I'm lucky to be able to work alongside him in an environment like this, I think that's quite rare. I started off helping him out and then because I used to ride unicycles as a hobby the team approached me and asked if I wanted to become a performer, wearing a costume, putting on makeup and all that. I accepted, loved it and here I am four years later. AA: I've been doing seasons in Ibiza for three years, coming from Bilbao, where I'm from. Last year I went to all the dancer castings and luckily I got accepted for Zoo. Walk me through an average Saturday. What time do you start work? How does the day unfold? VC: I get here two hours before my first shift, to leave time for hair, make-up and wardrobe. But most people get here an hour before. Who makes the costumes? VC: They're hand made in-house by the team. They buy little bits online or at small markets on the island. They're very creative people, with a lot of imagination. Do you dress the same each week? AA: Yeah we have our own fixed wardrobe. How many shifts do you do? How long are they? VC: It's different for each performer. Somewhere between four and six. They vary in length. In the seal pit, for example, they tend to be ten minutes as the shifts there tend to be high-energy, you're on stage in front of the DJ, facing the crowd. But with the snakes it's less strict, we just put them round our necks and walk around, letting people take photos, ask questions, stroke them. Most people have never seen animals like this. That can last up to 30 minutes. What kind of snakes are they? We have species from all over the world. African pythons, Madagascan boa constrictors, South American boas. Suzi Powell performing in the Seal Pit. Suzi, as one of the oldest members of the team, how have you seen dancing evolve over the course of your time here? What was it like when you started? SP: It's definitely a lot bigger. There were roughly 20 people when I started, and now at the peak of summer we've got 40. It was a similar kind of thing back then, but now we've got bigger and better costumes, we've been able to bring more specialist acts in as the party and its budget expands. People from Madrid, Barcelona. We're lucky though, because most of these artists come here specifically to work with us. Our auditions are crazy. Hundreds and hundreds of people. The selection process starts in May and we fish out the best. So the team changes year-on-year? SP: In some cases we keep on some regulars. But then we always bring in new people. You have to keep the show fresh. Looking at the routines: how much is prepared and how much is improvised? AA: It depends. Because of the ballet, I perform routines that I've performed on stage but it's mostly improvisation. You need to let the music guide you. Your costume plays a part too. Sometimes I'll change a couple of times throughout the day, like every now and then I do acrobatics in the Mandala area, which is a much calmer exercise. Then for the heavier dances I'll wear black. It depends on the vibe, the DJ, everything together. Are there any DJs you like dancing to particularly? AA: I really love Sven Väth, but he doesn't play here [laughs]. What do you guys do once the summer is over? AA: Up until last year I was studying, so this year I'm going to apply to some dance companies and get some winter work, so I don't have to rely solely on the summers in Ibiza. [laughs]. What's the thing you enjoy most about your job? VC: I love being outside, in such a wide open space, amongst nature. And I love working with the animals but most of all it's the family vibe that we have here. AA: The energy... VC: It's not like other places. Everyone that works at Zoo feels part of something. AA: And that transmits through to the crowd I think. The Zoo Project takes the classic idea of Ibiza dancers and flips it on its head. But I'm interested to hear what you think about the way the other clubs and parties do it? Is it an integral part of the night or a bit outdated? AA: There needs to be a bit of everything. Depending on the party, you have different vibes, different kinds of people with different tastes. And of course the music isn't the same. Here we're all performers, and though there are go-gos, that's a club thing. They're looking for that female figure, which people like. This week on the island Rumors at Beach House New this year, Beach House has rapidly established itself as the scene's last-ditch go-to venue. In Ibiza, that's a strong position to be in—just last week Solomun and his Diynamic crew dropped by, having had Cova Santa pulled from under them at the last minute. But really it's been Guy Gerber's Rumors party that has helped build Beach House's reputation. The Sunday affair has done well, despite having had to swap the camo-netting of Plan Be for fine dining and bright-white walls. On this occasion, mainly due to the post-Grand Prix (powerboats, not racing cars) crowd that had overrun the bar's various VIP areas, there was a particularly flashy feel about the place. Because of this dominant presence, the party's regulars took to dancing on the sand outside, finding space amongst the multitude of loungers and beds. The vibe was strong as a result, as more than 200 people moved with vigour to Gerber's weighty, late-night tech house. The sound, too, was on point, transmitting every element of the Israeli's gradual transition towards more progressive styles. At one stage, though, the sound cut completely, returning seconds later at half the volume and double the distortion. The moment the problem was fixed, a huge roar of approval reverberated around Playa d'en Bossa—a tell-tale sign of a good party. We Love...The Warehouse Project at Space On Sunday, Manchester's powerhouse outfit The Warehouse Project curated their first event in Ibiza, joining forces with We Love... at Space. According to founder Sam Kendel, they've “had multiple requests over the years to do events and have always respectfully declined.” They have, after all, been busy erecting a mini-empire across the UK and Croatia. Devoid of We Love...'s band of residents, the lineup on the night felt fresh, while still in keeping with the party's UK-centric MO. Inside, Nicolas Jaar played Ibiza for the first time since Destino last year, performing from a makeshift raised booth in the Discoteca. Jaar's set largely comprised of his usual soulful, chugging fare, sprinkled with the occasional gospel vocal and dip into quicker terrain (Inner City's "Good Life"). Kerri Chandler, meanwhile, was playing a good 10 BPM faster in the Terraza, mixing with incredible dexterity. He kept the vibe at a throbbing peak throughout, though his take on contemporary house wears a little thin after a while. The same can't be said of Eats Everything and Richy Ahmed. Their four-hour back-to-back effort was the best received of the night, as the pair traded hip-house and tougher techy bits for the wall-to-wall crowd. That said, there was little remarkable about Sunday. Inside the venue, there was nothing to suggest WHP's involvement, which made it feel like just another We Love... Quite what it means for Kendel and co.'s Ibiza future I'm not sure, but this wasn't much more than a mildly entertaining pilot. Defected In The House at Booom! Ibiza I got a shock as I entered Booom! last Tuesday. In place of the DJ booth was a party of sharply dressed VIPs, sipping champagne. Following their gaze, the new booth crept into site, occupying the broad stage to the side of the dance floor. It took a few minutes getting used to, but ultimately its new position felt much more natural, opening the club up and making better use of its shape. The only gripe is that it's a little too high. Luke Solomon and Simon Dunmore looked comfortable in their new surroundings, smiling and grooving along to their back-to-back flow of punchy peak-time house. On the large wall behind them, crisp projections darted and flashed in time with the music. At 2:30 PM, headline act Cajmere slunk into view, seamlessly picking up the reigns from the veteran pair. He led with several cuts of strapping Chicago house, dishing out a barrage of tumbling basslines to the energetic young crowd. As time wore on, he moved more modern, dropping Maceo Plex's ubiquitous remix of Gus Gus' "Crossfade" and the fractured pop-house of Mu's "Let Get Sick." The night's highlight came not long after, as Cajmere took off his headphones, plugged them into the mic input and performed the vocals for "Percolator" live. Whatever you make of Defected, it's hard to argue with its consistently feel-good appeal.
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