© João Octávio Peixoto/TMP / “Ming the clam and the immortal jellyfish”, by Ana Rita Xavier / Palcos Instáveis
This is the first piece in a trilogy around the questioning of the concepts of strangeness examined by Mark Fisher in The Weird and the Eerie. These are two terms that are difficult to translate into Portuguese: weird (strange) and eerie (unsettling). According to the author, what is strange is often associated with a feeling of error. An entity or object is so bizarre that it makes us feel like it shouldn’t exist or at least shouldn’t exist in a certain context. Fisher argues that, if this entity or object actually exists, it may be necessary to question the categories that we have been formulating to make sense of the world..
Ana Rita Xavier
Performer and creator, graduated in Creation and Interpretation in Contemporary Dance, from ESD (Lisbon). She completes the ModemPro course (Scenario Pubblico-Sicilia) and the FAICC course (Instável – Centro Coreográfico, Porto). Collaborates with Tom Borgas, Radar 360, Gustavo Cirático, Guilherme de Sousa and Pedro Azevedo (BLUFF), Joana Castro, Gil Mac, André Braga and Cláudia Figueiredo (CRL – Central Elétrica), Xana Novais, Filipe Moreira (Réptil ac), Teatro Oficina, Rui Souza, Pedro Bastos, Svenja Tiger, among others. In 2019 she presents “Zona 1” (TMP-Campo Alegre) and in 2021 “Merely descriptive title or two women and an audience”, in co-creation with Sofia Alvernaz, in the cycle Palcos Instáveis (TMP-Campo Alegre). In 2023 she presents “X’s off” (Hotelier).
Dance, M14 – 50 min
strangeness – presence – absence – lack of belonging – limit
Past presentations
May 5 / Gretua, Aveiro
Apr 5 and 6 / Sala Estúdio TCA
Directed, co-created and interpreted by: Ana Rita Xavier
Sound design, co-created and interpreted by: Mariana Leite Soares
Light design: Ana Rita Xavier, Mariana Leite Soares
Scenography: Ana Rita Xavier e Ana Paula Ferreira
Costumes: Ana Paula Ferreira
Voice-off: Madison Pomarico, Daniel Conant
Artistic support and advicing: Pedro Azevedo, Andy Pomarico, Madison Pomarico, Daniel Conant, Bruno Pacheco, Gui Silvestre
Residency support: Instável – Centro Coreográfico*, Theatro Circo*, ESTUFA – Plataforma Cultural, TUP – Teatro Universitário do Porto, Amparo 99
Coproduction: Instável – Centro Coreográfico e Teatro Municipal do Porto
Residency coproduction: O Espaço do Tempo
Thanks to: CRL – Central Elétrica, Coletivo Febre
* Within the scope of Palcos Instáveis