Trio / Um solo

We are pleased to introduce you to the young Portuguese choreographer Tiago Guedes and two of his productions: Um solo, a solo dance from 2002 which he himself performs, and Trio, a work from 2005 which he performs together with two other dancers.

As the titles of his work already suggest, Guedes seeks simplicity and abstraction. His aim is to reach the zero point of dance before an audience. Despite his long, intensive musical training Guedes initially opts for silence so that the spectator can focus all his attention on what he sees.

In Trio he links each of the three dancers to the basic human movements of lying, sitting and standing. Through sequencing, repeating and varying three lines of movement he examines how a body can function within such a limited vocabulary. Small differences heighten the spectator’s concentration and stimulate his memory. Trio is actually a sort of triptych with the three dancers as branches of one single body.

In Um solo Guedes examines the private and the public and he literally shares his space with the audience. This work was originally created in a gallery, a space with windows. Within this area Guedes defines his territory; it is a sort of echo-chamber but is nevertheless his ‘home’, the place where he can really be himself. The boundaries of the territory are cherished like the boundaries of the personality.