Choreographies by Carla Jordão, Luís Marrafa and Ricardo Ambrózio
2017 Season Programme, premiered on September 29th, at Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite, Almada

In 2017, the festival Quinzena de Dança de Almada, Almada Fortnight of Dance festival, organized by Companhia de Dança, (Ca.DA), celebrates 25 years. Over the years, the festival has contributed to the international exchange and promotion of dance from several countries.
Like so many choreographers around the world, Portuguese artists also seek to broaden their knowledge and experience of dance in other countries. Some of the dancers and choreographers who started out with Ca.DA have gone on to live and work outside of Portugal. For instance, Carla Jordão is based in Germany, and Ricardo Ambrózio, Belgium. We thought it would be a good idea to bring them back to perform in front of our “home” audiences. It represents the appreciation and recognition we have for those who were willing to leave in order to evolve in the art of dance.
The proposed programme encompasses the work of these two choreographers and for the first time for Ca.DA, a piece by Luís Marrafa, who currently resides in Belgium. "Coevos" is intended as an eclectic programme, where one can glimpse into the universe of each choreographer.

Marvel, choreography by Luís Marrafa | PREMIÈRE
La ligne de Vie I ←, choreography by Carla Jordão
Todo para sempre é agora (new version) ←, choreography by Ricardo Ambrózio

About the authors

Carla Jordão graduated in Performance Dance from Escola Superior de Dança, Lisbon, Portugal, (2004), and obtained her Masters in Choreographic Composition from Folkwang Universtät der Künste, in Germany, (2016). Her professional experience comprises of Dance, Theatre and Choreography. She’s taken part in various performances in different countries including Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, Poland, Austria and Germany. She was a dancer and choreographer with Companhia de Dança de Almada working with diverse choreographers such as Benvindo Fonseca, Clara Andermatt, Guillermo Horta Bettencourt, Jean Paul Bucchieri, Marie Coquil and Rui Pinto. She was also a dancer with the Kamu Suna Ballet Company, under the direction of César Moniz. She was in the cast of "O 3º Homem", (theatre/dance) by the Inestética Companhia Teatral. In Berlin she participated in two pieces by choreographer Chaim Gebber, “Complementary differences” and “Love matters”. She danced in the piece “7XK”, by Mario Mattiazzo, a choreography created in Cologne, (Germany) and Viena, (Austria), for the Sommerblut Festival. She was assistant to playwright Célestine Hennermann on the “Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst” project, (creation and performance), in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. She choreographed the piece “La Ligne de Vie” for Companhia de Dança de Almada which was chosen to represent the company in various European festivals. She choreographed and performed the solo piece “Self Portrait”, which was created and developed during a residency in L'AGORA, Guilers (France), with its debut at the La Becquée festival (France), a work supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and by Compagnie Pour Un Soir. She also choreographed "Me you you Me", the result of a co-creation with Romain Husson in an artistic residency at CAE, Figueira da Foz, (Portugal) with the support of Corpodehoje. She created the pieces "Skeletal automaton", (2015) and "Unruhe", (2016), which premiered at the Fünfzehnminuten Festival, (Cologne, Germany). "Drafting Plan," a duet created in collaboration with Stephanie Miracle, which won first prize, best duet in 2015 at the SoloDue Festival in Barnes Crossing, (Cologne, Germay). In 2016, the same piece won the best duet award at SzólóDuó Festival, (Budapest, Hungary), and the third prize in the Contact Energy Competition, (Erfurt, Germany). In 2016 she created "State of Suspension", "This must be the place", "Delimited expanding mass" and two more pieces specifically for Extraschicht - Lange Nacht der Industriekultur, (Unna), and for the Welttheater der Strasse festival, (Schwerte), both in Germany. In 2016, she was one of three choreographers chosen for the "Think Big" residence at the national theatre in Hannover, Germany. 

Luís Marrafa was born and lived in Schüttorf, Germany until he was nine. He moved to Évora in Portugal and later Lisbon, then London and at the moment lives and works in Brussels. From an early age Luis demonstrated a passion for drawing and dancing, but drawing was his first artistic love and as a child was invited to exhibit some of his prize winning work. Later thanks to admiration for Portuguese artist Leonor Serpa Branco entered Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. But quickly he quit the course after having seen “Pixel”, a dance piece by Portuguese choreographer Rui Horta. And that’s how it began: Luis went on to get his degree at Escola Superior de Dança in Lisbon. And he’s the co-founder of the MARRAFA vzw dance company and StairCase.studio dance studio in Brussels. He creates and produces his own works as a choreographer, dancer and music/sound composer inspired by his own experiences, surroundings and different cultures, the highlights being his works Unstable, Disquiet, IIB, (in collaboration with António Cabrita was awarded Best photo in the VII Photo Competition in Barreiro, 2008 and Best Dance Video in the Quinzena de Dança de Almada, 2009), Untitled (Best performance award at the Lisbon InShadow festival in 2012), ABSTAND, (nominated for best choreography by Prémio Autores SPA 2014). HOME, (selected by Aerowaves twenty company in 2016). Emphasizing the artists with whom he works, Karine Ponties, Rui Horta, António Cabrita and Tânia Carvalho. "The concept is to generate movement, from the simplest to the complex. Each movement in turn will have a deep desire to communicate."

Ricardo Ambrózio, a Portuguese-Brazilian, grew up in Rio de Janeiro. From an early age he was interested in Brazilian culture including popular culture. At six years old he began rhythm and movement with lessons in capoeira and at thirteen joined a street dance group participating in competitions for three years. At sixteen he met Flávia Tápias, dancer, teacher and Brazilian choreographer who invited and encouraged him to study and work as her assistant, sharing with him lessons and research material. He became resident researcher in the Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa de Dança do Rio de Janeiro (CDPD-RJ). He produced dance festivals and studied for two years in Faculdade Angel Vianna. He moved to Lisbon when he was 20 where he attended Escola Superior de Dança. In Portugal he danced with Companhia de Dança de Almada, (2007-10), the highlight working with Filipa Francisco, Rita Galo and Ana Macara. He began as a choreographer with Companhia de Dança de Almada creating “Lifeboat”, (2008), “Nossos”(2009), a piece which was performed in the international festivals La Becquée” in Brest, (France) and “ProArt” in Prague. In 2014 he created for Ca.Da “Todo para sempre é agora”. As a teacher and choreographer he created and developed his own personal style which is a mixture of all his dance influences. Constantly seeking to research choreography he moved to Amsterdam and Brussels where he worked with Bruno Caverna, Gerard Mosterd, Dogwolf, (Chris de Feyter’s company), Willy Dorner and Wim Vandekeybus. For the last four years has been a part of Wim Vandekeybus’ company. Currently, he runs his own project, "Untamed Productions", started in 2013.

Photos

75' | ages 12 and over

The project Coevos is supported by