The ballet, combining the dramatic intensity of the writer’s universe with the expressiveness of the choreography by Fernando Duarte, CNB’s director, will feature a total of nine performances until October 26, as announced by the company.
CNB is also set to perform ‘Os Maias’ at the Lódz Ballet Festival in Poland on World Dance Day, April 29, and on April 30 at the Teatr Wielki w Lodzi.
The piece features musical curation by Andrea Lupi, set design by José Manuel Castanheira, and costumes by José António Tenente, with a cast of more than thirty dancers.
The CNB will take the stage at Teatro Camões alongside pianist António Rosado and soloists from the Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa.
“The idea is not to compete with the book, because the book will always win, but to encourage its (re)reading, whether for those who are already familiar or for those who may be inspired to do so,” said Fernando Duarte in a CNB statement about the opening of the new season at Teatro Camões.
One of the most renowned works by Eça de Queirós, published in 1888, “Os Maias” tells the story of three generations of the family, focusing on the most recent, with the love story between Carlos da Maia and Maria Eduarda, characters seemingly at the mercy of a destiny leading them to ruin.
The ballet “evokes, reinterprets, and brings to life unique characters and timeless issues, viewed through the keen irony of Queirós,” projecting dance as a language capable of “telling and moving, like few others, dialoguing between past and present,” as noted in the CNB’s text.
A year ago, when he took on the role of company director, Fernando Duarte revealed in an interview that adapting Portuguese literary classics to dance was among the aims of his project for the CNB.
In Companhia Dança em Diálogos, founded in 2018 with dancer Solange Melo, the choreographer adapted for dance “O Primo Basílio” (1878) by Eça de Queirós and “O Memorial do Convento” (1982) by José Saramago (1922-2010).
The musical curation by Andrea Lupi for “Os Maias” includes composers like the Belgian César Franck, a contemporary of Eça, and the Austrian Maria Theresia Von Paradis, who lived at the turn of the 18th century, establishing a timeline through the action.
Dancing the main roles will be Francisco Morais, Mário Franco, Aeden Pittendreigh, and Christian Schwarm for Afonso da Maia; Francisco Gomes, Frederico Loureiro, Maria Monforte, Inês Ferrer, and Filipa de Castro for Pedro da Maia; Frederico Loureiro, Lourenço Ferreira, Diogo Bettencourt, and João Costa as Carlos da Maia; and Raquel Fidalgo and Patrícia Main as Maria Eduarda da Maia.
In addition to the artistic program, CNB will present a parallel program through the Dance Engagement Program, with workshops and pre- and post-performance talks with artists, specialists, and audiences.
