FŪ TSUGI 風継ぎ
Rafael Alvarez | BODYBUILDERS

A group of about 20 participants over 55 years old and seniors from Lisbon and Paris are challenged by the choreographer Rafael Alvarez to develop and create a choreographic proposal in both cities, based on the experience gained through a cycle of intensive laboratories of research, improvisation and creation in contemporary dance, implemented in a first phase in Lisbon and Paris. The process resulting from this artistic exchange, allowing an exchange of experiences, culminates in the public presentation of the collaborative show FŪ TSUGI in Paris (Parc de Bercy) and Lisbon (CSL). The project will be replicated with participants from the Ílhavo region in co-production with 23 Milhas / Câmara Municipal de Ílhavo (Fábrica Artes - Gafanha da Nazaré_April, 2022).

FŪ TSUGI (wind of connections) develops from a personal collection of more than 100 snapshots of each of the performers. This photographic series will be the basis of the choreographic construction and dramaturgical writing that composes this score of danced self-portraits, proposing possibilities of intersection between dance and photographic image, revealing the singular identities that multiply in the body and space in the form of visual haikus - a choreographic landscape of danced self-portraits and an inhabited photographic installation. The life experience of these performers offers the creative act a singular sensitivity and simultaneously a freedom of creation open to human diversity and the poetry of bodies in motion that, in contemporary speed, invites us to a time and place of dialogue, to listen, feel, think and dance the world, far and near, inside and outside of us.

Fū 風, Japanese for 'wind', represents in the godai (five elements) all things that grow, expand, and enjoy freedom of movement, such as air, mist, or smoke. Fū represents breathing and the internal processes associated with breathing. Mentally and emotionally, it represents a posture of "free and open mindedness" and a sense of unconcern. It can be associated with willingness, elusiveness, avoidance, compassion, and wisdom.

The 'kintsugi', an ancient and artisanal technique from Japan, which consists in repairing and connecting broken ceramic pieces through a golden alloy, inspires the title and universe of this project. The aim is not to return the object to its pristine state - on the contrary, the cracks are enhanced with a mixture of laque and gold powder. They are "perfectly imperfect." Kintsugi can be understood in a simplified way in its philosophical aspect with the acceptance of the imperfect, the flawed, or the marks of the passage of time. The vulnerable and experienced bodies that are convened through the TSUGI project are also bodies of resilience and action, they are bodies of connection. We do not intend to camouflage the fragile nature that makes us more human, but rather celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of each of their identities.

This new creation celebrates the 20 years of the project DANÇA CONTEMPORÂNEA +55 Anos®, created and directed by choreographer Rafael Alvarez in Lisbon since 2001 and since 2017 in Paris, with regular activities - weekly classes, research labs, training and creation, presentation of choreographic projects and performances in both cities.


ARTISTIC AND TECHNICAL DATA

Artistic Direction, Choreography, Set design and Costumes: Rafael Alvarez

Performers (Lisbon and Paris) Ana Bela Mendes, Anna Giulia Pollini, Alexandre Pappalardo, Brigitte Mechekour, Evelyne Pommerat, Elisabeth Vieira Alvarez, Françoise Houelche, Gisèle Bessac, Isabel Costa Lopes, Isabel Fazenda, Isabel Machado, Isabel Leão, Joëlle Wien, Jean-François David, Lisete Barbiere Figueiredo, Luísa Lima, Lydie Buffa, Pia Rezzaire, Teresa Cabral, Ursula Aguiar, Zulmira Martins

Light Design: Guilherme Pompeu
Assistance: Inês Cardoso
Production and Diffusion: Rafael Alvarez | BODYBUILDERS
Financial Management: Sara Lamares
Press Advisory: Mafalda Simões
Photography and Book: Elisabeth Vieira Alvarez
Book Editing Support: Susana Paiva
Video Recording: Bruno Canas
Graphic Design: Paulo Guerreiro

Co-production: BODYBUILDERS | Rafael Alvarez and 23 Milhas/Câmara Municipal de Ílhavo
Partnerships and Hosting: Carpintarias de São Lázaro, Antena 2, EIF(E) - Escola Informal de Fotografia de Espectáculo, Companhia Olga Roriz/Palácio Pancas Palha

Support for Creation, Editing and Internationalization: Portuguese Republic - Culture / DGARTES

TSUGI (from Japanese: repair, connect, unite) is a choreographic creation and editing project, of participatory and multidisciplinary (dance and photography), intergenerational and inclusive character. The project focuses on the development, presentation and circulation of the performances - "UN TSUGI" (cloud of connections) and "FU TSUGI" (wind of connections) directed by the choreographer Rafael Alvarez, integrating respectively a group of 6 performers with and without disabilities/functional diversity, in co-production with Plural_Companhia de Dança/Fundação LIGA and in partnership with Escola Superior de Dança (4-5 June 2021, Carpintarias de São Lázaro) and a group of about 20 performers between 55 and 85 years old from Lisbon, Ílhavo and Paris with presentations in the three cities. It also integrates the edition of two photography books that accompany the creation projects, proposing visual dramaturgies parallel to the choreographic processes. TSUGI deepens and continues the artistic research and choreographic creation started in Japan by Rafael Alvarez, from 2017.