Synopsis
“Writing about my work is like writing about the deepest part of my Being. That is why I say: “I am not good with words”. Not when I want to show the depths of my heart in them. To translate it. I feel strangeness.
I decided to call this work Versa-vice (the vice-versa of vice-versa) because when I make a play I say: “the play is about this and that…”. But it could also be about its opposite. Its mirror. Or about anything else that is there, for a second, while you see, hear, dance, remember… That second is as valid as the whole process of creation. It may even have more power, more impact within us. A second of glimpse. A second that makes us change direction, or provokes us into something else, even if we don’t realise it.
Our hearts are connected. We understand by this means, human and non-human, through our depths. I say heart, but I could say Life. The life of humans, animals, plants, stones, earth, water… just Life itself.
Shapes communicate so many things. Looking at a square or a circle is so emotionally different. Art can be translated into words, and it can be words. But it can also be light, shapes, colours, sounds, smells…. Or maybe Art is none of these things, but rather what lies behind it. Art is Life communicating through us. Through everything.”
Tânia Carvalho, December 2022
Artistic and Technical Information
choreography, artistic direction: Tânia Carvalho
interpretation: Andriucha, Beatriz Marques Dias, Bruno Senune, Catarina Carvalho, Cláudio Vieira, Filipe Baracho, Luís Guerra, Matthieu Ehrlacher, Nina Botkay
voice: Tânia Carvalho
poem: Fernando Pessoa
light design & technical direction: Anatol Waschke
sound oroduction, sound design: Juan Mesquita
music: Tânia Carvalho
costumes Design: Cláudio Vieira e Tânia Carvalho
master seamstress: Rosário Balbi
executive direction: Vítor Alves Brotas
administration, finance: Janine Lages
communication, press advisory: Maria João Bilro
photo: Rui Palma
video: Christo Roussev
logistics: Leonardo Garibaldi
production: Agência 25
co-production: Fundação Caixa Geral de Depósitos – Culturgest (Portugal), Estúdio 25 (Portugal), Julidans Amsterdam (Netherlands), La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val-de-Marne / Biennale de Danse du Val-de-Marne (France), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix – Hauts-de-France dans le cadre du dispositif Accueil-Studio (France), Teatro Municipal do Porto – Rivoli e Campo Alegre / DDD – Festival Dias da Dança (Portugal), Théâtre Jacques Carat Cachan (France), Theatro Circo (Portugal), Teatro Viriato (Portugal)
partnerships: Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente / Convento de São Francisco / Abril Dança em Coimbra (Portugal)
co-production residencies: Fundação Caixa Geral de Depósitos – Culturgest (Portugal), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix – Hauts-de-France dans le cadre du dispositif Accueil-Studio (France), O Espaço do Tempo (Portugal)
support: República Portuguesa – Cultura | DGARTES 2021-22 (via Estúdio 25), Câmara Municipal de Lisboa – Polo Cultural Gaivotas | Boavista, Casa-Atelier – Fundação Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva, Forum Dança, Loja das Maquetas
acknowledgements: Chá de Agulhas – Susana Oliveira, Maria Manuela da Silva Alves