‘O Salvado’ is the title of a new choreography, marking more than a decade since the solo ‘The Rite of Spring’, poised to bring everything the choreographer has saved to the stage after “cleaning” part of what was left behind over seven decades of life, three of which were in constant work under her own name.
“Solos have happened almost once every ten years. It’s as if this possibility is always latent within me, and I feel when it is the right time,” expressed the choreographer during an interview about her latest choreography.
Premiering on July 3 at Teatro Carlos Alberto in Porto, with shows on July 4 and 5, “O Salvado” will proceed on July 9 to Teatro São Luiz in Lisbon and continue its tour until the end of November, visiting Setúbal, Faro, Aveiro, Ponte de Lima, Famalicão, Lagos, Figueira da Foz, and Sintra.
Described by the artist as “the most intimate” creation to date, Olga Roriz embraced new challenges in the piece, including enhancing communication with the audience, memorizing texts, showcasing her body, and learning to play the electric guitar.
“It’s something I created that people have never seen,” she summarized, noting that the audience will not expect such closeness in a solo, especially due to the significant presence of her texts, and believes this surprise will be “very interesting.”
“Usually, in all my solos, there’s a fourth wall that I don’t cross to the other side. But this time, yes, I talk a lot with the audience,” the choreographer stated, linking this choice to her “theatrical side” and her dream of being an actress, another passion alongside cinema and music.
Twelve years after the solo created for ‘The Rite of Spring’, Olga Roriz continues to feel the need to renew herself, disregard taboos, create something new, experiment with how the body is presented on stage, and explore various artistic languages.
“It’s a very special moment, not only because of the anniversaries but also because it’s a special solo, created at this point in my life,” the choreographer noted, marking three anniversaries this year with the boldness of reinventing herself on stage.
In music, this time entirely of her choosing, she realizes the dream of playing the electric guitar: “During the 20 minutes of audience entry [into the hall], I am playing a composition by Vitor Rua he called ‘Salvado Suite’. I had never picked up a guitar. Learning to play was a lot of work,” she said about the training.
The choreographer held six artistic residencies in 2024, notably in Aveiro, Lagos, São Miguel, Ourém, Lisbon, and London, where she developed her work not only choreographically but also in musical selection and text creation.
“It’s common to forget words, it’s normal, but these exercises [for the solo] helped me memorize. The text is a different type of memory, different from the body. It’s difficult but good at the same time,” she recalled, regarding the rehearsals where she confronted herself, her limitations, and capabilities, always wanting to go further.
In ‘Electra’ (2010), Olga Roriz danced topless, while in ‘O Salvado’, she decided to go further in physical exposure and undresses completely in a “fleeting” moment.
“This decision seems nonsensical. When my body was in the condition where I’d feel comfortable showing it, I didn’t. But now, I felt it was time to play with this matter,” she said about the moment she undresses, leaves the stage, and returns with a jacket, addressing the audience to joke about the situation and herself.
Olga Roriz states she will be “literally and not literally naked” on stage in a “non-transferable” solo, as close artists assured her: “Apparently, I’m very much me, and that’s exactly what I wanted. In that sense, I’m happy. It’s not something another person could do,” mentioned the author of a repertoire consisting of more than 90 pieces of dance, theatre, opera, and video.
“It’s a work with more intimate exposure, although my intimacy is present in all shows, eventually in a more poetic form. Here [in ‘O Salvado’], my intimacy is more exposed,” admitted to being the choreographer, who will turn 70 on August 8.
“It’s not just because of the 70 years, it’s also a ‘statement’. The body is always a place of greater fragility, even more for a dancer than for an actress. In dance, it is a bit more complicated,” reminded the artist born in Viana do Castelo, awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aveiro for distinction in Arts in 2017.
The choreographer expressed gratitude for still being able to dance despite physical issues: “I am not a completely healthy person; I take medication daily, but I have the privilege of having an incredible body, which is doing well at 70, with its unique language, expressiveness, and energy. That makes me very happy. I have this drive and desire to do things that my body allows me to do, with more or less pain.”
Always feeling the desire to be on stage, she notes that she couldn’t do so because she has a company under her own name — celebrating 30 years of existence — and because she likes to work with others: “That greatly enriches my artistic and personal life,” emphasizes Roriz, who received artistic training in dance at the Escola de Dança do Teatro Nacional de S. Carlos with Ana Ivanova, and the course at Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa.
In 1976, the choreographer, who in cinema directed four films, ‘Felicitações Madame’, ‘A Sesta’, ‘Interiores’, and ‘A Casa’, joined the Ballet Gulbenkian cast under the direction of Jorge Salavisa, becoming the principal dancer and choreographer until 1992 when she assumed the artistic direction of the Companhia de Dança de Lisboa.
After a 50-year career, the choreographer emphasizes her gratitude for the company and the opportunity to work with “exceptional artists,” some of whom have been with her for many years, such as João Rapozo, who edited the video for this new solo, and also benefited from the contributions of Eric Costa in set design, Bárbara Felicidade in costumes, Cristina Piedade in lighting design, João Henriques in vocal direction, and dancer André de Campos in creation assistance.
For Olga Roriz, solos have made “a cleavage” in her career, as if trying “to clean the board and start over,” hence the new work is titled “O Salvado,” meaning “what remains of a whole life.”
“In these moments of solo, it all comes from within, based a lot on me,” described the dancer, distinguished with several awards including the Latinidad Prize (2012), noting that this show “is a complete self-portrait.”
