The Portuguese choreographer tells us about the wisdom we are losing, the connection between body and spirit, and the relationship between art and everyday life. A wisdom we should revive for our own good.
The creation of this piece, which revolves around the process of desertification and depopulation of the Serra do Caldeirão, was commissioned by the Festival Encontros do DeVIR. One of the conditions was to use images recorded by the same artist in this area of the Portuguese Algarve. And Vera Mantero did it. But in this show she also resorts to the filming made by the ethnologist Michel Giacometti in the sixties in that same mountain range, especially those that deal with work songs.
The whole work is full of voices that come from far away. The sounds of the earth, music and the word; the words of a burning Antonin Artaud and the sound poetry of Jacques Prévert are linked together in a whole that ends up offering a radical look at traditional ways of life, especially the oral culture of southern and northern Portugal, but also from other continents.
Trained in classical dance, the dancer and choreographer Vera Mantero is considered one of the most prominent names of the Nova Dança Portuguesa. She started creating her own choreographies in 1987 and, since then, has presented her creations, a personal combination of dance and performance, throughout Europe, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Canada and the USA, as well as Asian countries such as Singapore or South Korea.
A proposal by La Caldera – Centro de creación de danza y artes escénicas para el Festival de Barcelona Grec.
Prior to the presentation of the work, La Caldera organizes a workshop for professionals with Vera Mantero, on July 16th, 17th and 18th. For more information check the parallel activities section of the Grec Festival of Barcelona or the website lacaldera.info.
A co-production of O Rumo do Fumo and DeVIR/CaPA.
This creation was commissioned by the Festival Encontros do DeVIR/CaPA.
Artistic Residences: Centro de Experimentação Artística - Lugar Comum/Fábrica da Pólvora de Barcarena/Câmara Municipal de Oeiras i DeVIR/CaPA, Faro.
The creation and production structure of dance O Rumo do Fumo has the support of the General Directorate of Arts of the Ministry of Culture in Portugal.
The performance uses video extracts from the works of Michel Giacometti Salir (Serra do Caldeirão), Cava da Manta (Coimbra), Dornelas (Coimbra), Teixoso (Covilhã), Manhouce (Viseu), Córdova de S. Pedro Paus (Viseu) i Portimão (Algarve), además de fragmentos de textos de Antonin Artaud, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Jacques Prévert y Vera Mantero.
Concept and interpretation: Vera Mantero Lighting design: Hugo Coelho, Vera Mantero Video and images Script: Vera Mantero Video editing: Hugo Coelho, Vera Mantero Acknowledgements: Editora Tradisom
