CABARET PRIMEIRA VEZ
Primeira Vez Cabaret is a creation of Ana Rita Teodoro and Connor James Scott. Both contemporary dancers with remote experience in the world of entertainment – Ana Rita has a connection to circus and clown via her training at Chapitô, and Connor, a ballroom dancer since the age of 4 – their aim with this cabaret is to create a space for socialising, entertainment and experimentation in the close relationship between artists and audience. The activity will continue over the next two years at Espaço Parasita, with 4 cabarets planned for each year and another 4 with dates to be set for 2026.
The people chosen for the first date are Bruno Brandolino, Daniel Pizamiglio, Tânia Carvalho, David Marques & Nuno Pinheiro. Then there will be an open call for proposals for the next cabaret.
Inspired by the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich) and the Bomba Suicida Sunday Shows (Lisbon), the Primeira Vez Cabaret presents unpublished numbers of up to 8 minutes, created especially for the occasion. In each edition, 5 artists are invited, with Connor and Ana Rita as hosts or playwrights, also proposing numbers. The structure alternates between performances and moments of socialising, which function as breaks and preparation time. There is no search for balance between disciplines – dance, theatre, music, performance, circus -, valuing mixing and unexpected encounters. Each artist accepts the challenge of presenting something new, in a format that allows for improvisation, instinctive choices and a direct relationship with the audience.
Ana Rita and Connor created Primeira Vez Cabaret as a space of freedom and spontaneity, inspired by the intimacy between friends and real-time creation. With few rehearsals and a focus on improvisation, the project is committed to a ‘homemade’ and ‘low cost’ aesthetic, where the performer presents themselves without the typical resources of the theatre. The artists are invited to recycle and recreate forgotten materials – clothes, lines, music, gestures – giving new value to what has been left behind. This practice encourages the revival of ideas that were once considered ‘silly’ or inappropriate. Cabaret values queer performativity, otherness and the construction of informal communities, promoting encounters and behaviour outside conventional norms.
