Valentina, Virgen Explore Digital Identity at Tenerife Residency Event

The Salita at Auditorio de Tenerife will host a special event on February 19. This event is part of their residency program, in partnership with the Canary Islands Live Arts Laboratory (LAV-C). It features two performances, "Just Pray-To be modern or not to be" and "X." Both explore a similar idea: how we build our identity in a world where we're always online and showing ourselves off.

The artists involved are Claudia Valentina and Virgen. Claudia Valentina is a dancer and performer from Venezuela, raised in the Canary Islands and now living in Madrid. Her work uses body, movement, and aesthetics to create intimate and emotional pieces. Virgen is a multidisciplinary artist well-known in the drag scene. Virgen's work is a bold and personal mix of music and performance, exploring gender and identity.

Audiences will see two distinct yet connected works. "Just Pray" and "X" are contemporary pieces that delve into the conflict between our true selves and the roles we present to be seen, accepted, or consumed. Instead of telling one story, the event invites viewers to experience each artist's unique world. Both works share a focus on the body, image, and the human desire to be seen.

In today's world, where identity is shaped by images, filters, and constant online presence, these artists use the stage as a special place. Here, private feelings and public display blend together, and the body becomes a battleground between what we want and what we control.

Claudia Valentina's "Just Pray" looks at how we worship images and treat social media like a modern religion. Perfect hair, flawless makeup, and "ideal" bodies act like unspoken rules, demanding sacrifices both physically and emotionally. The performance features live-streamed rituals (recorded on stage for Instagram and TikTok). This creates an uncomfortable situation for the audience: simply watching also means having power. The piece highlights the harshness of being constantly watched online and how tiring it is to try and maintain an impossible level of perfection.

"X" by Virgen, on the other hand, is an inward journey. It's an audiovisual show that explores what's hidden, forbidden, and uncomfortable, alongside what's explicit, desired, and even grotesque. Through music, body, and visuals, it opens a window into things usually kept secret. This performance is both a deeply personal revelation and the launch of Virgen's first music album, turning the stage into a place for raw, honest confession.