A Choreography For Five Dancers
In Unison – a choreography for five dancers – I aim to show how, on the one hand, that no artistic object can be separated from those who perform it, and, on the other hand, that no artistic event can truly be replicated, that they all are, in essence, unique. Five dancers, forming a predominantly-male group – four men and one woman – perform a choreography in unison. The dance composition may represent a ritual, which is an essential concept in this piece: in societies (both human and animal), the core movements, be they symbolic or functional, are ritualized, defining from the start what is normative and what deviates from the norm, defining standards and innovation, trends and counterculture. The question is: to what extent are rituals representative? Do five dancers performing ritualized movements inunison on stage become one single body? Does their individuality fade? Is the viewer’s perspective formed by the harmony of the ensemble, by the specificity of each body in action, or by both?Unison, a choreography for five dancers, explores three main concepts stemming from the different possible meanings of replication: the possibility of recreating meaning from a template; the idea that life is a path towards death or the decline of man; and the idea that it’s impossible to remove human representation from art, under penalty of refusing art itself.
Artistic Direction Victor Hugo Pontes. Set Design F. Ribeiro. Technical Direction and Light Design Wilma Moutinho. Original Music Hélder Gonçalves. Dramaturgical Support Madalena Alfaia. Performance André Cabral, Bruno Senune, Elisabete Magalhães, Teresa Alves da Silva and Valter Fernandes. Production Direction Joana Ventura. Co-produced by Nome Próprio, Teatro Municipal São Luiz, Teatro Municipal do Porto Campo Alegre. Rivoli. Acknowledgement Marco da Silva Ferreira.
Playing time 65’
Ages 16 years old and up
Project supported by the Portuguese Government – Culture Ministry / Directorate General for the Arts