Choreography by Carla Jordão | Artistic residence in Almada/Portugal and in Cologne/Germany
Premiered on 2019 July 5th, at TanzFaktur, in Cologne (Germany)

Kölner Tanz- und Theaterpreise Award

Inspired by the crowds of laughing faces of Yue Minjun's painting, in "A Universal Weakness" Carla Jordãolets two dancers perform for 40 minutes with the same expression stamped upon their faces.

How do these emotional, presumably painful moments of stress and pressure affect how they maintain their physical facial expression? What mood will emerge when smiling on stage becomes the norm? When our involuntary smile finds an arbitrary and culturally imposed smile?

About the author

Carla Jordão has a degree in Dance from Escola Superior de Dança de Lisboa and completed her Masters in Choreography at the Folkwang Universität der Künste, Germany. Since then, she’s worked as a dancer and choreographer for numerous national and foreign companies. For several years she’s worked as a dancer and choreographer at Companhia de Dança de Almada. As a choreographer, her work has been presented in numerous festivals, winning several awards. Since 2017 she’s been a member of the Barnes Crossing choreographers network team in Cologne. She’s currently working with various artists as a dancer, choreographer and playwright in Germany and Portugal.

Artistic overview

Choreography: Carla Jordão
Performance: Bruno Duarte and Luís Malaquias
Sound Design: Timm Roller
Conceptual support: Katharina Geyer
Ligth: Wolfgang Pütz
Production: Ellen Brombach
Photography and Visuals: Alessandro de Matteis

Co-production by Carla Jordão and Companhia de Dança de Almada.

Tour

Teatro Mascarenhas Gregório, Silves - Portugal, February 8, 2020
Barnes Crossing, Colónia - Alemanha, December 20, 2019
Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite – Sala Experimental, Almada - Portugal, October 3, 2019
TanzFaktur, Colónia - Alemanha, July 7, 2019

Photos

Support

Circa  40' | ages 6 and over