Open Studio: Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti at Espaço Alkantara

Eight people embark on a great journey on foot. We do not know where they came from, nor where they are headed. They travel to escape a foretold catastrophe. In this resilient, stubborn, and circular movement, they carve out space for imagination and wonder — like a faded circus with melancholic performers, yet full of hope. And they sing.

They sing to ward off evil, to bring relief. They sing because the cicadas sing. They sing like Gal Costa on the album Cantar, released in 1974 at the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship. A song that is a cry for freedom, in times of war, religious intolerance, and violence — times in which societies and their States rehearse a return to authoritarian policies, of silencing and death. They sing as an act of resistance. They sing even if the circus is left without a tent, even if the sea floods the cities, even if humanity forgets how to love.

According to Greek mythology, on the star Tau Ceti (in the constellation of the whale), twelve light-years from Earth, exists a miraculous remedy capable of curing humans of sadness. Perhaps that is where they are going.


From 22 to 29 June, Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti is in artistic residency at Espaço Alkantara. On 26 June, at 7pm, there will be an open studio session.

CANTAR is one of three projects currently in creation and produced by Alkantara in 2025. It will be presented in November during the Alkantara Festival.

Credits

Creation, performance and direction Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti Co-creation and performance Bárbara Cordeiro, Francisca Pinto, Mayara Batista, Piero Ramella, Sara Paternesi and Yaw Tembe Assistant director Francisca Pinto Original music Yaw Tembe Lighting design and technical direction matéria leve (creation: Ska Batista and Josefa Pereira; accompaniment and mentoring: Leticia Skrycky; writing on the lighting project: Naiana Padial) Documentation and social media Walesca Timmen Photography Walesca Timmen and Sara Giraldo Executive production Sinara Suzin (Alkantara) Production Alkantara Coproduction Alkantara, TMP - Teatro Municipal do Porto Support for Creation OPART, E. P.E./ESTÚDIOS VICTOR CÓRDON Co-production residency O Espaço do Tempo With support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Goethe Institut - Culture Moves Europe, La Caldera, Companhia Instável, PAF (Performing Arts Forum), Forum Dança, Centro Cultural da Malaposta, Ilê do Mestre Peixinho, N'goma Capoeira Angola