In his new work, Marco da Silva Ferreira wanders between past and present, folklore and urban culture to create a colourful and vibrant exploration of identity.

A cast of 10 performers form a dynamic and joyful ensemble, their complex and percussive footwork mixing with live music to create a unique soundtrack. Taking street dance, hip-hop battles and club culture as their base, they dismantle traditional European folk dances, reconstructing them through a contemporary lens. They reclaim these dances that are frozen in time, resistant to change, and which have disregarded the influence of new perspectives or minority communities.

Da Silva Ferreira blends these diverse dance styles to explore communal identity, memory and our relationship with the past to ask: what do we want to preserve; what do we want to transform; and what do we want to forget?

Starting with simple jumps that later give way to energetic, rebellious and carnivalesque movement, the choreography accelerates, urging us towards resilience, togetherness and true equality.

Marco da Silva Ferreira was born in 1986. in Santa Maria da Feira. He started training in 1996, when he took up professional swimming. in 2002 gave it up and concentrated on body practice in the performing arts. His path was self-taught, exploring dance styles prevalent in urban contexts and of African origin. From 2002 to 2010 the dance direction and vocabulary became more and more diverse and closer to the means and composition of modern improvisation. in 2010 he won the television competition "So You Think You Can Dance - Portugal".

The performance "Brother" (2016) established the discourse of the artist as an author about reflections on dance and its meaning in the modern world. In his work, he creates links with the origins of dance and draws a line that is set by the modern body.

2018-2019 Marco was an associate artist at the Teatro Municipal do Porto, and from 2019 to 2021 became an associate artist at the Center Chorégraphique National de Caen in Normandy.

Artistic director and choreographer: Marco da Silva Ferreira

Art consultant: Catarina Miranda

Dancers: André Garcia, Fábio Krayze, Leo Ramos, Marc Oliveras Casas, Marco da Silva Ferreira, Maria Antunes, Max Makowski, Mélanie Ferreira, Nelson Teunis, Nala Revlon

Lighting design: Cárin Geada

Sound and technical director: João Monteiro

Music: João Pais Filipe (drums) Luís Pestana (electronic music)

Costumes: Aleksandra Protic

Scenography: Emanuel Santos

Anthropological studies : Teresa Fradique

Folk dances: Joana Lopes

Production management: Mafalda Bastos

Production: Joana Costa Santos, Mafalda Bastos

Production structure: Pensamento Avulso

Broadcast: ART HAPPENS

Co-produced with: Teatro Municipal do Porto, Centro Cultural de Belém, Big Pulse Dance Alliance, co-produced by New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), Julidans (Netherlands), Tanz im August/HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Germany), Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland ) and ONE Dance Week (Bulgaria), co-financed by the European Union program "Creative Europe", Center Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie, La briqueterie - CDCN du Val-de Marne, Maison des arts de Créteil, KLAP- Maison pour la danse , CCN-Ballet National de Marseille, Charleroi danse, center chorégraphique de Wallonie - Bruxelles, December Dance (Concertgebouw and Cultuurcentrum Brugge), La rose des vents – scène nationale Lille Métropole – Villeneuve d'Ascq, TANDEM Scène Nationale Arras-Douai

Sponsors: República

Portuguesa - Cultura, DGARTES - Direção Geral das Artes.

Artistic residencies: Tempo, Teatro Municipal do Porto.

Premiere: 2022 October 21-22 Teatro Municipal do Porto, Portugal.

Photos by José Caldeira and Mercat des Flors.

"This performance is oozing with generosity, the generosity of the choreographer, musicians and dancers."

Theaterkrant  

"Heart-conquering hip-hop and folklore come together in a revolutionary indictment"

Theaterkrant