Story(ies)
Part Two — Tiago Guedes
January
2019
Thu
10
When, in the 18th century, the Marquis de Sade wrote “Cent Vingt Journées de Sodome” [The 120 Days of Sodom] while imprisoned in the Bastille, he could not have imagined that his manuscript would simultaneously turn into one of the most hated and beloved works in the history of literature, arousing wide interest from the artistic community.
Pasolini dived into it and directed “Salò ole 120 giornate di Sodoma” [Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom] (1976), which many consider the most disturbing film in the history of 20th century film, and which is a scathingcriticism of Mussolini’s fascism.
In 2017, Swiss theatre director MILO RAU, the head of NTGent and a leading director when it comes to horror and crimes against humanity, joined Schauspielhaus Zürich and Theater HORA (a company exclusively consisting of actors with trisomy 21), to masterfully stage a performance where sadism and horror stories, on the one hand, and Sade and Pasolini’s literary and cinematic universes, on the other hand, coexist.
Milo Rau’s “The 120 Days of Sodom” thus leads us in a historical journey through Sade and Pasolini, continuously criticising the powers that be an their abuses. Moving from theatre to dance, we make an imperative stop with Pina Bausch, a world dance icon who always worked very closely with her dancers and actors. She argued that her pieces would never exist without the help of her irreplaceable performers, and she was responsible for the establishing of the idea of co-creation, which can be applied to many artistic practices nowadays.
One of her most emblematic dancers, CRISTIANA MORGANTI, created “Moving with Pina”, a performance based on excerpts from the extensive repertoire she danced.
She shares her collaborative experience preparing those works, moving back and forth between stories, movement and emotion. This performance-lecture takes us through the history of the very dance-theatre that influenced artists from all over the world to such a great extent, and does so resorting to the accomplice look of someone who helped writing it.
No doubt one of the greatest living choreographers today, North American WILLIAM FORSYTHE settled in and developed his work out of Germany. Aside from running several companies, namely Ballet Frankfurt and his homonymous company, he has also worked on projects crossing dance, visual arts, installation and video.
In spite of this inter-disciplinary wandering, discussing Forsythe means ging deep into the foundations of dance, technique and their continuous mutation and reinterpretation.
“A Quiet Evening of Dance” sublimatesall his work in a single performance to thesound of birds and Rameau’s Baroque music, underscoring the essence of dance today, without gimmicks or knickknacks, focusing on the body and on the inventive nature of choreographic writing. This performance is immeasurably contemporary due to the amount of dialogue with the classics in which it engages. It reminds us that art history in general—and dance history in particular—from the court of Louis XIV to the present day, moves in circles, has many sides to it and is shapeless. The five months featured in this programme-book, which is the second volume of Teatro Municipal do Porto’s 2018/2019 season, go on telling us these and other stories, engaging in a constant and fruitful dialogue between past and present. Five months to discover national and international artists—coming back to Rivoli and Campo Alegre or presenting their creations for the first time—and filled with parallel activities that enable us to either practically or theoretically more deeply understand the universe of each of them. In the coming months, from April 24 to May 26, we also host DDD – Festival Dias da Dança and FITEI – International Theatre Festival of Iberian Expression, which this year are stronger than ever as a result of a fruitful programming and communication partnership. By co-producing those two festivals, Teatro Municipal do Portom helps performing arts to present themselves at Porto on a European scale, and to get into the programmers international circuit.
Come, and come again!the present day, moves in circles, has many sides to it and is shapeless.
The five months featured in this programme-book, which is the second volume of Teatro Municipal do Porto’s 2018/2019 season, go on telling us these and other stories, engaging in a constant and fruitful dialogue between past and present. Five months to discover national and international artists — coming back to Rivoli and Campo Alegre or presenting their creations for the first time — and filled with parallel activities that enable us to either practically or theoretically more deeply understand the universe of each of them.
In the coming months, from April 24 to May 26, we also host DDD – Festival Diasda Dança and FITEI – International Theatre Festival of Iberian Expression, whichthis year are stronger than ever as a result of a fruitful programming and communication partnership. By co-producing those two festivals, Teatro Municipal do Porto helps performing arts to present themselves at Porto on a European scale, and to get into the programmers international circuit.
Come, and come again!
TIAGO GUEDES
Artistic Director
Pasolini dived into it and directed “Salò ole 120 giornate di Sodoma” [Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom] (1976), which many consider the most disturbing film in the history of 20th century film, and which is a scathingcriticism of Mussolini’s fascism.
In 2017, Swiss theatre director MILO RAU, the head of NTGent and a leading director when it comes to horror and crimes against humanity, joined Schauspielhaus Zürich and Theater HORA (a company exclusively consisting of actors with trisomy 21), to masterfully stage a performance where sadism and horror stories, on the one hand, and Sade and Pasolini’s literary and cinematic universes, on the other hand, coexist.
Milo Rau’s “The 120 Days of Sodom” thus leads us in a historical journey through Sade and Pasolini, continuously criticising the powers that be an their abuses. Moving from theatre to dance, we make an imperative stop with Pina Bausch, a world dance icon who always worked very closely with her dancers and actors. She argued that her pieces would never exist without the help of her irreplaceable performers, and she was responsible for the establishing of the idea of co-creation, which can be applied to many artistic practices nowadays.
One of her most emblematic dancers, CRISTIANA MORGANTI, created “Moving with Pina”, a performance based on excerpts from the extensive repertoire she danced.
She shares her collaborative experience preparing those works, moving back and forth between stories, movement and emotion. This performance-lecture takes us through the history of the very dance-theatre that influenced artists from all over the world to such a great extent, and does so resorting to the accomplice look of someone who helped writing it.
No doubt one of the greatest living choreographers today, North American WILLIAM FORSYTHE settled in and developed his work out of Germany. Aside from running several companies, namely Ballet Frankfurt and his homonymous company, he has also worked on projects crossing dance, visual arts, installation and video.
In spite of this inter-disciplinary wandering, discussing Forsythe means ging deep into the foundations of dance, technique and their continuous mutation and reinterpretation.
“A Quiet Evening of Dance” sublimatesall his work in a single performance to thesound of birds and Rameau’s Baroque music, underscoring the essence of dance today, without gimmicks or knickknacks, focusing on the body and on the inventive nature of choreographic writing. This performance is immeasurably contemporary due to the amount of dialogue with the classics in which it engages. It reminds us that art history in general—and dance history in particular—from the court of Louis XIV to the present day, moves in circles, has many sides to it and is shapeless. The five months featured in this programme-book, which is the second volume of Teatro Municipal do Porto’s 2018/2019 season, go on telling us these and other stories, engaging in a constant and fruitful dialogue between past and present. Five months to discover national and international artists—coming back to Rivoli and Campo Alegre or presenting their creations for the first time—and filled with parallel activities that enable us to either practically or theoretically more deeply understand the universe of each of them. In the coming months, from April 24 to May 26, we also host DDD – Festival Dias da Dança and FITEI – International Theatre Festival of Iberian Expression, which this year are stronger than ever as a result of a fruitful programming and communication partnership. By co-producing those two festivals, Teatro Municipal do Portom helps performing arts to present themselves at Porto on a European scale, and to get into the programmers international circuit.
Come, and come again!the present day, moves in circles, has many sides to it and is shapeless.
The five months featured in this programme-book, which is the second volume of Teatro Municipal do Porto’s 2018/2019 season, go on telling us these and other stories, engaging in a constant and fruitful dialogue between past and present. Five months to discover national and international artists — coming back to Rivoli and Campo Alegre or presenting their creations for the first time — and filled with parallel activities that enable us to either practically or theoretically more deeply understand the universe of each of them.
In the coming months, from April 24 to May 26, we also host DDD – Festival Diasda Dança and FITEI – International Theatre Festival of Iberian Expression, whichthis year are stronger than ever as a result of a fruitful programming and communication partnership. By co-producing those two festivals, Teatro Municipal do Porto helps performing arts to present themselves at Porto on a European scale, and to get into the programmers international circuit.
Come, and come again!
TIAGO GUEDES
Artistic Director
