Susana Domingos Gaspar

Distrust in political life, distance from the senses and bodies, increased strength of technology, climate emergency, social disorientation and emptying of public space dispute the everyday life of cities. In its sixth edition, MEXE – International Art and Community Meeting focuses on “the risk”, accepting it as a part of life, embracing it as essential to artistic creation.
The performance Classe do Jaime brings about that will to risk at the intersection of worlds that often seem distanced.
In the region of Santarém, which is the point of departure of this creation, in the parlance typical of Minde, there is no word for “dance”, but there are two for “ball”: O-do-Barreiro and Classe do Jaime. This is a peer work, based on the traditional dances from the Aire and Candeeiros mountain chains—a female dancer and a musician meet several groups for a continued practice of this kind of repertoire. Under the surface of the work, questions were asked summoning into the composition issues such as gender, eroticism and weight. What does traditional dance ask contemporary dance?


Susana Domingos Gaspar (1980, Torres Novas). She has a degree in dance from the Lisbon School of Dance, in choreography from Gulbenkian’s Creativity and Artistic Creation Programme, in community dance from Fórum Dança and in fasciatherapy/somatology. She performed for Madalena Victorino, Ainhoa Vidal and Filipa Francisco, and she also assisted creator Costanza Givone. She has been choreographing since 2005.