© Francisca Melo / “as above, so below”, by Frank Willens
As part of the 20th edition of Serralves em Festa, Instável – Centro Coreográfico presents two creations performed by students from FAÍCC and FOCAR.
“Caravanserá”, by Gustavo Ciríaco, is inspired by the work of artist Maria José de Figueiredo Ciríaco and by the shelters that, along the Silk Road, welcomed travellers in transit. Drawing from this reference, the piece proposes a space of encounter, relationship, and transformation, where the audience is invited to approach and become part of the experience.
“as above, so below”, by Frank Willens, investigates the environment of the forest floor, placing the performers under the audience’s gaze. Between the natural and the artificial, the piece evokes multiple readings — bodies that may be traces, projections, or simply moving presences — in a game that questions what it means to exist and act within a specific context.
Gustavo Ciríaco is a transdisciplinary artist whose work moves between performing and visual arts. Trained as both a political scientist and dancer, his practice is strongly marked by a site-specific approach. His works establish dialogues between context and architecture, geography and habitation, reality and fiction, in an ongoing twenty-year exploration of the expanded fields of dance-making. Ciríaco works across different fields of knowledge and artistic practices, gathering tools and insights on how to engage with shared time and space. With an international trajectory spanning the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, his work has been presented by major festivals and institutions. Since 2021, Ciríaco has been a tutor in the THIRD programme at DAS – University of Amsterdam.
Frank Willens is a dancer, choreographer, and performer based in Berlin since 2003. Trained in dance at UC Berkeley, his career spans contexts as diverse as experimental ballet, rock opera, and contemporary dance, developing an artistic practice marked by physicality, vulnerability, and attention to forms of presence and relation on stage. Over the past two decades, he has collaborated with creators such as Meg Stuart, Tino Sehgal, Boris Charmatz, Christine Gaigg, Susanne Kennedy, and Falk Richter, while maintaining a strong connection to Berlin’s independent dance scene. His work questions modes of labour, exchange, and performative presence, and has been presented at international festivals and institutions including Tanz im August, Theater der Welt, ImPulsTanz, Manchester International Festival, and Transform Festival. He has also participated in projects by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch under the direction of Boris Charmatz.
“Caravanserá”, by Gustavo Ciríaco
May 28 / 17:00 / FBAUP to Praça D. João I
May 31 / 17:15 / Alameda dos Liquidâmbares, Fundação de Serralves
Artistic Team
Concept and Artistic Direction: Gustavo Ciríaco in collaboration with João Gonçalo Lopes
Artistic Collaboration, Exhibition Design, Object Creation: João Gonçalo Lopes in collaboration with students from the Design Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto
Performers: Esther Kasenda, Ana Rita Xavier, Uatamã Fattori, Sara Zita Correia, and students from FAÍCC and FOCAR at Instável – Centro Coreográfico
Costumes: Gustavo Ciríaco & Vivi Curtis in collaboration with “A Avó Veio Trabalhar”
Seamstress: Sol Costa
Original Musical Composition: Dado Amaral
Musical Direction and Arrangements: Tomás Marques
Orchestra Direction: Raquel Couto
Music: Wind and Percussion Ensemble of Academia de Música de Costa Cabral
Singer: Mayara Baptista
Video: Aline Belfort
Communication: Aviva Obst
Pre-production Direction: Carolina Gameiro
Production Direction: Luís Fernandes, Mariana Pimentel and Rita Maia – And Lab
Administration and Financial Direction: Missanga Antunes – Per Form Ativa
Partner Institutions: Pó-de-vir-a-ser (Évora), Centro de Arte Moderna – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Núcleo de Artes Performativas NDAPA (Festival Transborda), INSTÁVEL – Centro Coreográfico (FAICC – Intensive Course in Interpretation and Choreography and FOCAR – Intensive Course in Choreography for Architecture)
Administration: Per Form Ativa
“as above, so below”, by Frank Willens
May 31 / 12:00 / Treetop Walk
May 31/ 14:00 / Treetop Walk
Artistic Team
Creation: Frank Willens
Performers: Angeliki Dermentzoglou, Carolina Veloso, Chiara Carcano, Eva Almeida Santos, Gui Silvestre, Lala Teles, Lucas Duarte, Margarita Bengalsky, Marta Fialho, Marta Yü, Miguel Oliveira, Mushtari Afroz, Nina Nikic, Taxia Spanou, Vicente Campos, and students from FAÍCC – Intensive Course in Interpretation and Choreography and FOCAR – Intensive Course in Choreography for Architecture
Production: Instável – Centro Coreográfico
Executive Production: Francisca Melo