De marfim e carne – As estatuas também sofrem
The iconoclastic Marlene Monteiro Freitas breaks down the barriers of our imaginations with a surrealistic update of the myths of Orpheus and Pygmalion. An intriguing, farcical and extravagant circus.
A flamboyant figure of avant-garde European dance, Marlene Monteiro Freitas breaks down barriers of the imagination and skews accepted standards of beauty with her baroque aesthetics, her surrealist imagery and hybrid creatures with distorted faces. After the invigorating (M)imosa and Paradise – private collection, she arrives at the Festival with of ivory and flesh, a blue and black piece where she reinvents the myths of Orpheus and Pygmalion by way of Monteverdi, Arcade Fire and Nina Simone.
Equipped with cymbals that are both instruments and props, three musicians share the space with four dancers-singers wearing corsets. Half ivory, half flesh, all look for a way out of their bastard state, for the body has become a prison. The gestures are mechanical, frenetic, out of touch. The eyes roll behind masked faces, mouths agape. Statues fall from their pedestals, slipping and spinning to allay suspicion. Grotesque, farcical and disturbing visions are part of this intriguing circus that burns with the desire to be free, to see dawn rise on a new life. Iconoclastic.
PRODUCED BY P.OR.K (LISBONNE)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS
PERFORMED BY ANDREAS MERK + FLORA DETRAZ (REPLACING MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS)+ LANDER PATRICK + BETTY TCHOMANGA
PERCUSSIONISTS COOKIE + MIGUEL FILIPE + TOMÁS MOITAL
LIGHTING AND SPACE DESIGN YANNICK FOUASSIER
MUSIC COOKIE
SOUND DESIGN TIAGO CERQUEIRA
CREATIVE RESEARCH JOÃO FRANCISCO FIGUEIRA + MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS
DIFFUSION KEY PERFORMANCE (STOCKHOLM)
PRODUCED WITH THE SUPPORT OF ACCCA – COMPANHIA CLARA ANDERMATT
COPRODUCTION O ESPAÇO DO TEMPO (MONTEMOR-O-NOVO) ALKANTARA FESTIVAL (LISBONNE) + MARIA MATOS TEATRO MUNICIPAL (LISBONNE) + BOMBA SUICIDA (LISBONNE) WITH THE SUPPORT OF DGARTES (LISBONNE) + CCN RILLIEUX-LA-PAPE + MUSÉE DE LA DANSE (RENNES) + CENTRE POMPIDOU (PARIS) + FESTIVAL MONTPELLIER DANSE 2014 + ARCADI (PARIS) + CDC TOULOUSE / MIDI-PYRÉNÉES + THÉÂTRE NATIONAL DE BORDEAUX EN AQUITAINE + KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS (BRUXELLES) + WP ZIMMER (ANVERS) + NXTSTP WITH THE SUPPORT OF EU CULTURE PROGRAMME
PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH INFOPRESSE + CINQUIÈME SALLE
WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH
PREMIERED AT FESTIVAL ALKANTARA, LISBON, MAY 30, 2014
DE MARFIM E CARNE - AS ESTÁTUAS TAMBÉM SOFREM (LISBON)
Innovation via Transgression
Fascinated by the grotesque carnival figures of her childhood in Mindelo, the cultural capital of Cape Verde, Marlene Monteiro Freitas is renowned for the extremely deformed faces and baroque, surrealist character of works populated by uninhibited, hybrid beings that are perpetually mutating.
