An unmissable name in dance, the choreographer brings her award-winning company for four performances, at the Tivoli Theater, in Lisbon. The new session will be on November 23rd, at 6 pm.
After the sales success of the first dates, the renowned Brazilian choreographer and director, Deborah Colker, announces an extra session of the award-winning show “Cão Sem Plumas” at Tivoli BBVA, in Lisbon. The new presentation will be on November 23rd, at 6 pm. The other three will be on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd, at 9:30 pm.
“How wonderful that the time has come to return to Portugal! How I miss Lisbon. It is an honor to take, with this show, our great Brazilian author João Cabral de Melo Neto”, said the choreographer who won the renowned “Prix Benois de la Danse” in the choreography category with “Cão Sem Plumas”.
Deborah Colker, throughout her career, has been a pioneer in the fusion of different art forms. Whether in dance shows on traditional stages leading the front committee of a samba school during the Rio carnival or even directing an opera in Scotland. Deborah was also the first woman to command a Cirque du Soleil show. The Brazilian created “Ovo”, by the Canadian company, which coincidentally will also have performances in Lisbon, in December.
With the “Cão Sem Plumas” tour, Deborah Colker continues to demonstrate her dedication to sharing her unique and inspiring vision with the world. The show, which premieres in Portugal, has already been seen by more than 400 thousand people. The last season in Rio de Janeiro, in September, was sold out in all seven available sessions. “Cão Sem Plumas” also visited 50 other Brazilian cities and toured the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Uruguay.
Literature and cinema
“Cão sem Plumas” is based on the poem of the same name by João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920-1999). The poet has deep connections with Portugal, as he lived for five years in Porto (1982-1987) as a diplomat.
Published in 1950, the poem follows the route of the Capibaribe River, which crosses a large part of the state of Pernambuco. It shows the poverty of the riverside population, the neglect of the elites, and life in the mangrove, with an “invincible and anonymous force”. The image of the “dog without feathers” serves the river and the people who live around it.
In the show, dance mixes with cinema. Scenes from a film written by Deborah and Cláudio Assis from Pernambuco – director of features such as the award-winning “Amarelo Manga”, “Febre do Rato” and “Big Jato” – are projected at the back of the stage and dialogue with the bodies of the 14 dancers. The images were recorded in November 2016, when the choreographer, filmmaker and the entire company travelled for 24 days through the interior of the state of Pernambuco, passing through the hinterland and countryside, until reaching the capital, Recife.
The journey was also documented by photographer Cafi, born in Pernambuco. In the original soundtrack there are two more people from Pernambuco: Jorge Dü Peixe, from the band Nação Zumbi and one of the exponents of the mangue beat movement, and Lirinha (singer of Cordel do Fogo Encantado, poet and actor), as well as the carioca Berna Ceppas, who accompanies Deborah since his debut work, “Vulcão” (1994).
Other former partners are in scenography and art direction (Gringo Cardia) and lighting (Jorginho de Carvalho). The costumes are by Claudia Kopke. The executive director is João Elias, founder of the company.
On stage, the dancers cover themselves in mud, in an allusion to the landscapes that the poem describes, and their steps evoke crabs. The animal that lives in the mangrove is in the ideas of the geographer Josué de Castro (1908-1973), author of “Geografia da Fome and Men and Crabs”, and the singer and composer Chico Science (1966-1997), main name of the mangue beat. The movement mixes regional and universal, tradition and technology. As Deborah does.
To build a man-animal, a concept that is the basis of all choreography, the artist did not just rely on manifestations that are strong in Pernambuco, such as maracatu and coco. She also used samba, jongo, kuduro and other popular dances.
“My story is a story of mixtures”, says Colker, who was the movement director for the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
About the Deborah Colker Company
The Deborah Colker Company established itself as a pop phenomenon with “Velox” (1995), “Rota” (1997) and “Casa” (1999). The shows “Nó” (2005), “Cruel” (2008), “Tatyana” (2011) and “Belle” (2014) dealt with existential themes, such as affection.
In “Cão Sem Plumas”, Deborah brings together aspects from her entire career. Subsequently, the Company performed “Cura”, with which it had been performing since October 2021.
About Deborah Colker
Internationally recognized, Deborah Colker received the Laurence Olivier Award in 2001 in the Outstanding Achievement in Dance category (the most notable achievement in dance in the world). In 2009, she created a show for Cirque du Soleil: Ovo. In 2016, she was the movement director for the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, commanding more than three thousand people.
About João Cabral de Melo Neto
João Cabral was living in Barcelona, as a diplomat, when he read in a magazine that life expectancy in Recife was lower than in India. The news was the impetus to make “The Hound Without Feathers”. The writer published in 1953, “The River or Relation of the Journey that Capibaribe Makes from its Source to the City of Recife” and, three years later, his best-known work, “Morte e Vida Severina”. His poetry, one of the most important in Brazil, is marked by rigour and rejection of sentimentality. Diplomat, João Cabral de Melo Neto lived in Portugal between 1982 and 1987, when he worked for the Brazilian Embassy, in Porto. Elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters on August 15, 1968, he took office on May 6, 1969. Melo Neto died on October 9, 1999, in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 79.
Cão Sem Plumas
- Creation, Choreography and Direction: DEBORAH COLKER
- Executive Director: JOÃO ELIAS
- Cinematographic Direction and Dramaturgy: CLAUDIO ASSIS
- Art Direction and Scenography: GRINGO CARDIA
- Musical Direction: JORGE DÜ PEIXE and BERNA CEPPAS, special participation LIRINHA
- Lighting Design: JORGINHO DE CARVALHO
- Costumes: CLÁUDIA KOPKE
- Duration: 1h10 minutes
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