Cio Azul (Blue Heat)

“Cio Azul”, created in 1993, premiered in the ambit of “Encontros ACARTE”, the first performing arts festival in Portugal, organized by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s - Serviço ACARTE, from the end of the 1980s to its last edition in 2001. ACARTE was an advocate of the changes in specific artistic and social practices in Portugal, and fomented the emergence of “Nova Dança Portuguesa”.

“Cio Azul” is a piece about the most diverse expressions of love, in its erotic and spiritual manifestations. Love has been a recurrent theme in the choreographer’s work; seduction games, desire, pleasure, gestures, expressions, and movements, which underline, enclose, and convey the range of emotions, and the often-subjective truths of love.

Following a suggestion of the choreographer, João Lucas limited the instrumentation to an oboe and a drum set. The music is disrupted by the sudden and contrasting participation of the accordionist, Soraya Cristina, who brings to the piece a touch of kitsch, which is totally contrary to Andermatt’s aesthetics.

 

“It is a piece about love. Conscious of the diversity of its forms and interconnections, I want to approach this theme in the broadest possible sense, searching for its essence, seen from my own personal stance. The atmosphere is defined by a wish of peace and harmony. But the desire is fed by everything that is hostile and unstable in passion, and by a touching penchant for control. It is the urgency of a new sensibility. Once again, the dancers are not defined characters, they have an indeterminate gender, and fleeting sensations.”

Clara Andermatt (1993)

categories

Choreography Clara Andermatt | Original music João Lucas | Musicians Andrew Swinnerton and José Salgueiro | Songs João Lucas | Song lyrics Clara Andermatt and João Lucas | Dancers Clara Andermatt, Amélia Bentes, Mónica Lapa, Paul Taylor (premiere) and Felix Lozano (Paul Taylor's substitute) | Singer-accordionist Soraya Cristina | Costume designer Manuela Furtado | Lighting designer Rui Marcelino | Supervisor Maria de Assis | Executive production Mónica Lapa, Pro.Dança | Production ACARTE Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation | Support Portugal State Department of Culture and Pro.Dança

Photos by Jorge Gonçalves, José Fabião, Joana Novais

Next creation

O Cansaço dos Santos (The Tiredness of the Saints)

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