Three contemporary dance pieces in one performance. Step Forward is what the Paulo Ribeiro Company presents this Friday and Saturday, February 23 and 24, at the Carlos Avilez Auditorium at the Estoril Arts Academy, where they are one of the resident companies.
Choreographer Paulo Ribeiro delves into the past to recover two works. Encantados de Servi-lo, from 1991, was originally choreographed for the Nederlands Dans Theater and later performed by the Gulbenkian Ballet. Only four years later did Paulo Ribeiro establish his own company. The second is Comédia Off, a piece from 1996 that was performed by the Gulbenkian Ballet and takes place in the "interstices of a musical comedy."
They return to the stage now in a triptych mode, joining a new work, Summer’s Almost Gone, "a fun idea" inspired by the Paredão (seawall) that connects São João do Estoril to Cascais and its "human fauna," as Paulo Ribeiro describes it in statements to Time Out, having grown up there.
"The repertoire of companies is important, the work that is behind," he explains, emphasizing the relevance of restoring old shows as a way to preserve memory and legacy. "We usually always think about the new." Thus, it allows reflection on these pieces that maintain their own relevance. "It's good to be able to look at things that have been done and that have given shape to this new Portuguese dance. I argue that the repertoire should be revisited and reviewed. I have made these incursions with two other pieces that I did, and it is very interesting to see how, despite being 20 or almost 30 years old, they remain relevant. We have to know how to look back, with something tangible, to better understand the present and to project ourselves forward. And that's why the third piece emerged. If we have two distinct pieces from different times, it was missing to take this one that has to do with the present moment. I think there are many perspectives that can intersect and be very interesting for the audience."
The new show, Summer’s Almost Gone, borrows its title from a song by The Doors, which accompanied Paulo Ribeiro's adolescence and is part of the soundtrack — as well as Supertramp. "It is a creation detached, uncommitted, in the sense that I wanted to play a little with these dynamics, these characters that inhabit and constantly parade on this seawall with enormous intensity, be it summer or winter."
Although the musical choice on which the performance is based is not exactly contemporary, the narrative is related to the present. "I like to always have a little political acuteness, a small look at reality. And that has a lot to do with the present because, in the end, we are overwhelmed by a present that is not the happiest. We are talking about two things that confront each other; it is almost a happy time that has passed and a present that unfortunately... But this seawall continues to be suspended, as if it were out of time."
The three pieces, he synthesizes, bring together "a lot of life." Paulo Ribeiro highlights the demand and complexity for the six young performers who have to transition through three narratives during the show. "In dance, we are shaken by sensations and emotions, it is very sensory. All this dynamics leads us to something that is celebratory, dynamic, contagious in the sense of the will to do, to be present... These are pieces that infect with a joy of living and being here."
Estoril Arts Academy (former Cruzeiro Building). Avenida das Acácias, 2, Estoril. February 23 at 9:00 PM; February 24 at 7:00 PM. €10.