Wednesday

The set is a huge hole in the middle of slabs of laminated plaster, as if a gigantic iron ball had fallen there. By building the scenic space with the same material used in thousands of Portuguese houses, as a way to start deconstructing, Cláudia Dias and Igor Gandra draw a direct connection to everything that is swept under the western rug. Even though the air bombings carried out by European military forces can be easily seen today on the internet and on TV, the connection between our homes and the craters opened by missiles on the other side of the world is not that visible. That black hole alludes to that cause and effect relationship yet to be clarified. It is not just about showing the responsibility of European social democracies in the massacres that are taking place today in the rest of the world. The black eye in the middle of the ground is a bad sign that reveals to us what is still to be done.

Jorge Louraço Figueira

Wednesday: The Time of Cherries is the third instalment in the Seven Years Seven Pieces series, a seven-part performance project addressing the concept of an absent or precarious future developed by Portuguese choreographer Cláudia Dias.

Concept and artistic director Cláudia Dias Guest artist Igor Gandra Performed by Cláudia Dias and Igor Gandra Artistic and technical assistant Karas Text, set and puppets by Cláudia Dias and Igor Gandra Puppet atelier Igor Gandra, Cláudia Dias, Karas, Eduardo Mendes, Daniela Gomes, Nádia Soares Light Design and Technical Director Nuno Borda de Água Critical Eye Jorge Louraço Figueira Produced by Alkantara Co-produced by Maria Matos Teatro Municipal, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Centro Cultural Vila Flor Artistic residencies O Espaço do Tempo, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Teatro de Ferro, Companhia de Dança de Almada, Centro de Experimentação Artística do Vale da Amoreira do Porto, Centro Cultural Vila Flor

2018

(Premiere) Alkantara Festival/Maria Matos Teatro Municipal, Lisboa
Teatro do Campo Alegre FIMP, Porto
Teatro Viriato, Viseu
Teatro Joaquim Benite, Almada

2019

Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Guimarães
Cine-Teatro Avenida, Castelo Branco

2021

Seven Years Seven Pieces cycle, São Luiz Teatro Municipal, Lisbon
Teatro Virgínia, Torres Novas

Cláudia Dias (Lisbon, 1972) trained in Dance at Academia Almadense, Companhia de Dança de Lisboa, and Forum Dança. She danced with Grupo de Dança de Almada and was part of the Ninho de Víboras collective. She was central to João Fiadeiro’s work as a creator and in the development, systemisation, and transmission of Real Time Composition. She regularly teaches workshops in Choreographic Composition and Real Time Composition. She created One Woman Show, Visita Guiada, Das coisas nascem coisas, Vontade De Ter Vontade, and Nem tudo o que dizemos tem de ser feito nem tudo o que fazemos tem de ser dito. She currently directs and develops the Seven Years Seven Pieces project.