FÚRIA

In her new work, Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues asks how one’s own world may come up in the unique environment of a stage, which is like a planet. Within the theatre space as a locale for possibility, she creates a utopia that gains momentum and direction from a mild yet powerful force. This scenario moves from burdensome to light moments and is full of unanswered questions, contrasts and contradiction. The starting point for her performance for nine dancers was, among other things, Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector’s book “A paixão segundo G.H.“,  in English “The Passion According to G.H.”. In the novel, the author probes for the tensions between a lived reality and the experiences of the soul. In an interview with cultural magazine “la terrasse”, Lia Rodrigues reports: “My play was written in this special, terrible moment of the elections, which left very many people in deep disquiet, especially those in the favelas. La Fúria, translated as the anger, thrives in all of us. But what is there to oppose it? Maybe a bit of rest and placidness. Surely the imagination, which is a site of freedom.”

Lia Rodrigues is among the most important artistic voices in Brazil and is, among other things, associated artist at the Chaillot – Théâtre National de la Danse, where “FÚRIA” will premier in November, as well as at the Paris Theatre Centquatre. In the 1970s, she joined the emerging São Paulo contemporary dance scene. After dancing with Maguy Marin in France in the 1980s, she founded her own company in 1990, followed in short order by the creation of dance festival “Panorama da Dança“ in Rio de Janeiro. Since 2009, she has been running the Centro de Artes da Maré, a spot for artistic development, education and productions, situated in one of Rio’s largest favelas.

Duration: 70 min.