Festival de Dança Mesa Verde

Introduction

“Every dancer is an artist entitled to theater.” (Kurt Joss)

“I am not interested in how people move, but in what makes them move.” (Pina Bausch)

“Expressive dance is not based on a vocabulary of steps. It is, indeed, an analysis of movements that make aware time, dynamics, action and the motivation of movement.” (Reinhild Hoffmann)

During eight days in November, 2009, the public of Porto Alegre will witness the birth of a contemporary dance international festival.

This public may, at first, be astonished at its name, but will at last understand the reasons behind this choice. During these eight days, they will be able to follow it on the theaters of the city, and in their everyday lives  they may come across surprising performances full of diversity and richness of language.

Lokewise, during these eight days, the dance professionals, students and teachers  will be able to enjoy a gathering space which may have taken too long to be created, considering the relevant growth of contemporary dance in the State of Rio Grande do Sul during the past decades.

The Mesa Verde International Dance Festival originated from the desire for exchanging experiences of a nucleus, formed by artists and professionals connected to the performing arts in Rio Grande do Sul, which has been working together for three years and organized themselves around the Cultural Association CENA21 – a non-profit organization that believes in the capacity of the artists to shape their projects and make them happen; it also originated from the belief that a space like the MESA VERDE (*) – with its emphasis on dance-theater, but open to the diversity of other aesthetic choices of contemporary dance, can systematize dialogue and the thematic and aesthetic confrontations which are decisive for the development and streghtening of this artistic segment in Rio Grande do Sul.

There is the intention to make MESA VERDE a biannual event, which will only happen with the dialogue between the dance companies and the receptivity of private and public agents that continually understand and support this initiative –  which has already happened in a significant and heartening way in this opening edition.

The Organizers
November, 2009.

(*) The title alludes to the notorious creation of the choreographer Kurt Jooss, in 1932, which has become an emblematic moment in the history of dance-theater.

“Every dancer is an artist entitled to theater.”
Kurt Joss
“I am not interested in how people move, but in what makes them move.”
Pina Bausch
“Expressive dance is not based on a vocabulary of steps. It is, indeed, an analysis of movements that make aware time, dynamics, action and the motivation of movement.”
Reinhild Hoffmann
During eight days in November, 2009, the public of Porto Alegre will witness the birth of a contemporary dance international festival.
This public may, at first, be astonished at its name, but will at last understand the reasons behind this choice. During these eight days, they will be able to follow it on the theaters of the city, and in their everyday lives  they may come across surprising performances full of diversity and richness of language.
Lokewise, during these eight days, the dance professionals, students and teachers  will be able to enjoy a gathering space which may have taken too long to be created, considering the relevant growth of contemporary dance in the State of Rio Grande do Sul during the past decades.
The Mesa Verde International Dance Festival originated from the desire for exchanging experiences of a nucleus, formed by artists and professionals connected to the performing arts in Rio Grande do Sul, which has been working together for three years and organized themselves around the Cultural Association CENA21 – a non-profit organization that believes in the capacity of the artists to shape their projects and make them happen; it also originated from the belief that a space like the MESA VERDE (*) – with its emphasis on dance-theater, but open to the diversity of other aesthetic choices of contemporary dance, can systematize dialogue and the thematic and aesthetic confrontations which are decisive for the development and streghtening of this artistic segment in Rio Grande do Sul.
There is the intention to make MESA VERDE a biannual event, which will only happen with the dialogue between the dance companies and the receptivity of private and public agents that continually understand and support this initiative –  which has already happened in a significant and heartening way in this opening edition.
The Organizers
November, 2009.
(*) The title alludes to the notorious creation of the choreographer Kurt Jooss, in 1932, which has become an emblematic moment in the history of dance-theater.