“Manual de Defesa”, by Júlio Cerdeira
MANUAL DE DEFESA is a lecture-performance that reflects on forms of protection, memory and the (re)affirmation of queer bodies, identities and corporealities. Drawing on a range of artistic discourses, it seeks to aesthetically reimagine how these bodies can be defended in times of crisis.
Oscillating between theoretical essay (spoken and written) and embodied practices—including contact improvisation, jiu-jitsu and queer affectivity—the piece follows two bodies striving to protect and affirm their identities in a historical moment marked by repeated attempts at erasure. Their effort unfolds through processes of amorphisation that redefine bodies and identities, dismantle hatred and give rise to new forms of affection. Surrounded by defence manuals, these two queer bodies intertwine through dance and unarmed martial arts training, proposing knowledge as the greatest shield for collective and community protection against hate speech and disinformation.
In MANUAL DE DEFESA, there is no camouflage—only epistemological aposematism.
Don’t kill them with kindness, teach them with knowledge and queerness!
Júlio Cerdeira (1994, Braga, Portugal) is a queer artist whose practice explores the intersections of artistic disciplines to rethink materiality, identity and the political dimension of the body. He reinvents contact improvisation as a means of composing fluid and transitional bodies, creates and stages feminist dramaturgies, and questions the role of violence in contemporary society.
He holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts, specialising in Artistic Direction and Contemporary Dance Performance, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Dance from ESMAE, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from the University of Minho. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Contemporary Art at the College of Arts of the University of Coimbra.
As a performer, creator and choreographer, he has collaborated with artists and organisations including Né Barros, Elisabete Magalhães, Gustavo Ciríaco, Tales Frey, Rogério Nuno Costa, Sandro William Junqueira, Diogo Liberano, the International Contemporary Dance Collective (ICoDaCo), the Bosnian National Theatre Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Festival of International Alternative Theatre (Podgorica, Montenegro), Instável – Choreographic Centre, Ballet Contemporâneo do Norte, Hosek Contemporary (Berlin, Germany) and the Cerveira International Art Biennial, among others.
In 2019, he co-founded BANQUETE – Association for Research and Creation in Performing Arts (Braga, Portugal), where he works as an artist, researcher and programmer.
He is also a lecturer at ESMAE – School of Music and Performing Arts of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, where he currently teaches on the Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and the Master’s degree in Performing Arts, specialising in Choreographic Composition.
Dance – 60 min
Nov 27 and 28 / Sala Estúdio at Teatro Campo Alegre
Artistic Direction and Choreography: Júlio Cerdeira
Music and Video: Miguel De
Lighting Design: Pedro Abreu
Performance: Inês Filipe
Text and Dramaturgy: Cátia Faísco and Júlio Cerdeira
Costume Design: Jordann Santos
Executive Production: Rui Macário
Communication Design and Video Documentation: Luís Belo
Audience Mediation: Joana Gomes Martins
External Eyes: Cristina Planas Leitão, Cláudia Marisa and Mário Macedo
Production and Communication: BANQUETE – Association for Research and Creation in Performing Arts
Partners: Ardemente, Arte Total, Backstage – School of Dance and Performing Arts, CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva, Comédias do Minho, Fundação Lapa do Lobo, Instável – Choreographic Centre, ESMAE – Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Jornal do Centro, National Arts Plan, Rádio Universitária do Minho, University of Minho
Co-producers: Teatro Municipal do Porto and Instável – Centro Coreográfico*, Theatro Circo, Teatro Diogo Bernardes / Municipality of Ponte de Lima
* As part of the Palcos Instáveis cycle