The event is organized by Casa da Dança and supported by the Almada City Council, the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGArtes), and the French Institute of Portugal.
The program takes place at the Joaquim Benite Municipal Theater (TMJB), the Romeu Correia Municipal Forum (FMRC), the Largo do Farol de Cacilhas, and Casa da Dança. It gathers artists driven by experimenting with environments of conviviality and collaboration, fostering the exchange of knowledge and embracing the plurality of human experience.
This year, the organization emphasizes the coexistence of different cultures, the sharing of affections, and active and empathetic listening, committed and embodied in relation to others, as a means to activate new possible worlds.
The main hall of TMJB hosts “E nunca as minhas mãos ficam vazias,” a new creation by Cristian Duarte, inspired by a verse from the poem “Apesar das ruínas” by Sophia de Mello Breyner. It also features “L’Envol” by the award-winning French-Algerian choreographer Nacera Belaza, proposing a dance that keeps the body in a state of fall, starting from a photograph of a body falling from the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attack.
André Uerba recreates “Æffective Choreography” at TMJB, involving local performers and collaborating with the Serralves Foundation, exploring structures, politics, and intimacy practices.
In this work, André Uerba creates an environment for sharing practices reserved for the intimate sphere, understanding the exercise of vulnerability as strength rather than its absence.
Maria João Costa Espinho presents “Uivo” at FMRC, a multidisciplinary performance reflecting on freedom, resistance, and transformation through the body’s experience.
The organization notes that the performance “Uivo” by Maria João Costa Espinho, in collaboration with Mariana Tengner Barros and Jonny Kadaver, is multidisciplinary and shares micro-contexts of freedom, resistance, and transformation from the body’s experience.
In the TNJB Experimental Room, Greek choreographer Katerina Andreou presents “Mourn Baby Mourn,” a choreographic and sound piece.
At Largo do Farol de Cacilhas, Moroccan choreographer Taoufiq Izeddiou directs “Danser la Ville,” featuring 30 local performers.
This year’s program also includes a lab led by Nacera Belaza for sharing her research, as well as artist talks following the performances, mediated by critic Ruy Filho, offering moments of reflection and idea exchange.
The Almada International Performing Arts Showcase seeks to bring distinguished choreographers to the city, focusing on research, exchange, and artistic qualification, creating actions in each edition that enable direct contact with the proposals and practices of guest artists.
