Choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas is back in Barcelona with a version of 'Bacchae'

Bacchae - Prelude to a Purge is a dance performance featuring eight dancers and five musicians that can be seen from the 25th to the 27th of January at Mercat de les Flors. The production was awarded the Leone d’Argento at the Biennial of Venice and is choreographed by the prestigious Marlene Monteiro Freitas. This Cape Verde choreographer has presented other shows in Barcelona recently, such as (M) IMOSA and Guintche, which were very well received by the public. These pieces share a common interest in openings, impurity and intensity and are replete with rich imagery.

The work is inspired by the Bacchae of Euripides, in which the classical author invites us to explore the human depths under forces beyond reason. On the stage, the performers depict moments of delirium, irrationality, hysteria and madness, but this latent violence coexists with an aspiration to a simple and quiet life. The cast is made up of Andreas Merk, Betty Tchomanga, Cookie, Cláudio Silva, Flora Détraz, Gonçalo Marques, Guillaume Gardey de Soos, Johannes Krieger, Lander Patrick, Miguel Filipe, Tomás Moital, Yaw Tembe and Marlene Monteiro Freitas herself. The choreographer studied at the P.A.R.T.S. dance school in Brussels and the Superior School of Dance and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, and has worked with choreographers like Emmanuelle Huynh and Loïc Touzé. She is the co-founder of P.OR.K, a production structure in Lisbon, which is also producing Bacchae - a Prelude to a Purge.

If you go to the session on Saturday 26th, you should know that there will be an introduction to the show an hour before showtime and once the performance has finished there will be an opportunity to engage in conversation with the company. Additional information is available at the following link.