“How are our adolescents? What prejudices are associated with what they are experiencing, and how can we give them a voice to say, with us, through our artistic practices, what adolescence is today? How is it to be a teenager now?” are the questions driving the project, explained Filipa Godinho, coordinator of ELO, in an interview with Lusa during the presentation of the upcoming edition.
The third edition of ELO will feature director Tiago Rodrigues as the project’s “godfather,” drawing inspiration from his play “Coro dos Maus Alunos,” which addresses “issues related to freedom, expression, prejudice, and violence,” but especially the “emotions that adolescents have,” described Filipa Godinho.
This edition will also reach some secondary schools in Gondomar and Maia, in the Porto district, to engage with 150 students and gather information to be woven into the performance, added the project coordinator.
“We will be inspired by ‘Coro dos Maus Alunos’ but create another play, fully nourished by these participants. In fact, it is a much more metropolitan ELO, as we have schools in Gondomar, Vila Nova de Gaia, Maia, Porto, Matosinhos,” summarized Filipa Godinho.
According to Filipa Godinho, the third edition of ELO will introduce a music class at the Custóias Prison, involving teachers, guards, students, and educational assistants from the prison community.
Dance will be introduced at the Joaquim Gomes Ferreira Alves School in Vila Nova de Gaia, working with students, teachers, educational coordinators, and assistants.
“We expect the adolescents to produce something that will culminate in a final dance performance,” she noted.
The theater will take place at the Coliseu do Porto, with 25 available slots, about half of which are for teenagers, with further partnerships with various associations such as the Portuguese Dyslexia Association.
“We aim to create a highly diverse group that can reflect on the mental health of adolescents, while focusing as much as possible on creativity,” explained Filipa Godinho.
This edition will also introduce another new aspect by opening, for the first time, a “plastic creation” class for teenagers to work “from props to costumes and scenery,” highlighted Filipa Godinho, mentioning collaboration with artistic and professional schools in Porto.
The third edition of the ELO project, which this year, along with the Irmandade dos Clérigos, has the support of the Porto Metropolitan Area and Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal, will continue to be “intergenerational,” with half of the participants being teenagers and the other half people of all ages interested in joining the project, stated the director of the Educational Service of Coliseu do Porto Ageas.
