Choreography, 2020
In a lecture-performance entitled Salário Máximo, presented at the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon in 2014, Vera Mantero maintains that dance seems to her to be the least appropriate art form to discuss things. According to her, it’s easier to communicate a concrete idea through cinema or literature. This statement supports the commonly-held belief that dance, while it is a metaphor for thought, cannot speak. The apparent conflict here points to the relationship between politics and poetics, that can also be expressed as the dichotomy between written text — which can be translated — and the composition of gestures, action, and movements.
In his 18th century treatise, Raoul Fueillet proposes that dance be first written down on paper using a notation system he has devised, before being performed and transposed to the body. The idealization, written like a law, would be separate from the danced reality, resulting from a practice, in space. The process of transmission would be like dancing a language or speaking a dance, a process in which text and body interact in a negotiation between expression and communication.
João dos Santos Martins, July 2020
⌂ TECHNICAL INFO
Choreography: João dos Santos MartinsDance: Adriano Vicente
Music and live performance: João Barradas
Text: José Maria Vieira Mendes
Text in Portuguese Sign Language: Sofia Fernandes
Light: Filipe Pereira
Costume: Constança Entrudo
Produced by: Sofia Matos/Materiais Diversos
Coproduction: Alkantara, Associação Parasita, Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Materiais Diversos
Executive Producer: Claraluz Keiser/Associação Parasita, Association Mi-Mai
Art Residencies: Alkantara, Centro Cultural Malaposta, Studios Victor Córdon, 23 Milhas - Ílhavo
Acknolodgements: Sandra Gorete Coelho