Here whilst we walk

Inspired by the long tradition, which links walk to the production of thought and awareness, the artists Andrea Sonnberger and Gustavo Ciríaco take the public for a silent walk using as device a big rubber band. The two performers start a journey through the city,  investing on the possibilities of inhabiting the urban space through another politics of sharing and of perception. Taken in a walk through the invisible, but sensible, architecture produced by the pedestrians and their living of the urban space, the audience is invited to imprint his/her own presence in real time and space, in a contact in displacement where the place shall always be moving and moved.

As devices, they chose a supersized rubber band that surrounds the audience and the silence that filters their trajectory. The rubber band, by its malleable nature, molds itself to the surrounding architecture, sometimes getting the form of a fine streak in the passages between cars or along narrow sidewalks, widely stretched out in the squares, parks and avenues, or diverse other forms according to their route. In the same way, the diverse dynamics of the bodies of the spectators-performers are made present in that small community, defining common speeds, yet continually negotiating the space between their bodies in a subtle conversation of where they place themselves inside the elastic. Each group of individuals, each walk, inaugurates a way to be in a group, where personal singularities are added to the public identity that the group acquires for those from the outside the rubber band that cross their path.

Architecture organizes the space we go through daily. It shapes the sensorial experience of the city we live in. Plunged into this plan of circulations and myriads of shared public spaces, we cross with our bodies states, situations and territories. With silence, this other tool, the participants are left alone with their senses wide open, curious by what passes in their surroundings, without being diverted by conversations that would extract them from this here and now.

This project was created within the frame of Encontros 2005/06, an initiative of alkantara (Lisbon) with the collaboration of Panorama de Dança (Rio de Janeiro).

For press:

Danseurs hors cadre, Le Monde, September 2015, Paris.

Crossing the line announces its line-up, New York Times, August 2015, New York.

For articles and press texts, click here:

Walking and Mapping – Artists as Cartographers, by Karen O’Rourke, The MIT Press, London.

The Mobile Reality Theatre “Here Whilst We Walk”, by Hung-Hung (Hung-ya Yen), Taipei.

Walking through invisible architectures, by Victoria Pérez Royo,  Revista Cairón, Madrid.

La danse du spectateur,  by Katja Montagnac, Montreal.

Here whilst we walk, by Anne Fritsch, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich.

For video extracts, click below:

New York

Taipei

Gothemburg

On the research period, click here.

::NEXT::

Juli Dans. July 12 & 13, 2024. Amsterdam.

Bienal de Artes Performativas de Amarante – BAP. June 8 & 9, 2024. Amarante.

::BEFORE::

Linha de Fuga. October 2023. Coimbra.

Cambios de Escena. May 4, 5 & 6, 2023. Santiago de Compostela.

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Première Alkantara Festival, Lisboa, June 2006.
Residencies Alkantara (Lisbon, Aug 2005 and June 2006), Panorama Festival (Rio, Oct 2005) and Tanz Tendenz (Munich, Jan 2006)
CITIES

Modos de existir – São Paulo; Co-Habitar (extract) – Valparaíso; Crossing the Line Festival – New York; San Art Lab (extract) – Saigon; Walk&Talk, Festival de Arte Pública – Ponta Delgada/Açores; Theatre in Ordinary Life Spaces – discussions and demonstrations, Digital Art Center – Taipei; Festival du Tourisme Aléatoire, Ferme du Buisson – Paris; Göteborg Dans och Teater Festival – Gothemburg; Chelsea Theatre – London; Serralves em Festa, Museu Serralves – Porto; Intimate Strangers, Vooruit – Ghent; Festival Verão Azul – Lagos; Festival de Dança Contemporânea – São Paulo; Bienal de Dança de Fortaleza – Fortaleza; Movements in urban space – Leipzig; Prague International Theatre Festival – Prague; Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours / CCNT – Tours; Metropolis, KIT – Copenhagen; Der Flaneur, Schausspiel Frankfurt – Frankfurt; En marche, Galerie  Michel Journiac –  Paris; Tanz  im  August  –  Berlin; Festival Ex-Centrique – Chinon;  Contact Theatre – Manchester; Sacred, Chelsea Theatre – London; Paris Quartier d’Été – Paris; Festival  7  Collines – St.Étienne;  Théâtre du Merlan – Marseille;  Bienal de Liverpool / Liverpool Live 06 – Liverpool; Here whilst we walk & talk –  Munich; In-presentables – Madrid; Fierce! Festival – Birmingham; Laban Centre – London; Junction Theatre – Cambridge; Arnolfini – Bristol; NottDance – Nottingham; Panorama – Rio de Janeiro.

conception, creation and performance

Andrea Sonnberger and Gustavo Ciríaco

support

Tanztendenz  München  e.V. and Goethe  Institut  Rio  de  Janeiro

subvention

European  Cultural  Foundation,  Kulturreferat  der  Landeshauptstadt   München,   Bayerischer Landesverband   für zeitgenössischen   Tanz   aus   Mitteln   des   Bayerischen  Staatsministeriums  für Wissenschaft,  Forschung  und  Kunst

co-production

Alkantara and Panorama festivals

Thanks

Mark Deputter and Bojana Cveijic, Isabel Ferreira, Nayse López and Eduardo Bonito.

 

The project was commissioned under the frame of Encounters 05-06, created, co-produced and promoted by Alkantara (Lisbon) and Panorama (Rio) Festivals.

::NEXT::

Cambios de Escena. May 4, 5 & 6, 2023. Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

::BEFORE:: 

  • Linha de Fuga. October 3-4, 2022. Coimbra, PT
  • Modos de Existir, SESC Santo Amaro, June 2016. São Paulo.
  • Co-Habitar (extract), November 2015. Valparaíso, Chile.
  • Crossing the Line – FIAF, September 19th and 20th, 2015. Pioneer Works, New York, USA.
  • San Art Gallery Lab, January 2015. Saigon, Vietnam.
  • Walk & Talk Festival, Ponta Delgada, Azorean Islands, July 2014. Portugal.
  • Theatre in Ordinary Life Spaces – discussions and demonstrations, Digital Art Center, December 2012. Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Festival du Tourisme Aléatoire, Ferme du Buisson, June 2012. Paris, France.
  • Goteborg Dans & Teater Festival, May 2012. Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • Chelsea Theatre, July 2011. London, UK.
  • Serralves em Festa, May 2011. Porto, Portugal.
  • Intimate Strangers, April 2011. Ghent, Belgium.
  • Festival Verão Azul, February, 2011. Lagos, Portugal.
  • Bienal de Dança de Fortaleza, October 2010. Fortaleza, Brazil.
  • Festival de Dança Contemporanea, November 2010. São Paulo, Brazil.
  • Movements in urban space, June 2010. Leipzig, Germany.
  • Prague International Theatre Festival, Oct. 2009. Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Centre National Chorégraphique de Tours, Sept. 2009. Tours, France.
  • Metropolis, Kobenhavn Internasjonal Teater, August 2009. Copenhagen, Denmark.
    Der Flaneur – The congress, Schausspiel Frankfurt. June 2009. Frankfurt, Germany.
    En marche, Galerie Michel Journiac, April 2009. Paris, France.
  • Tanz im August, August 2008. Berlin, Germany.
  • Festival Ex-centrique. May 2008. Chinon, France.
  • Contact Theatre. May 2008. Manchester, UK.
  • Sacred festival, at Chelsea Theatre, May 2008. London, UK.
  • Festival Paris Quartier d’Été. July 2007. Paris, France.
  • Festival Les 7 Collines, July 2007. St. Étienne, France.
  • Festival Pazzapas, Théâtre du Merlan. May 2007. Marseille, France.
    Liverpool Live 06, at Bluecoat Art Centre, October 2006. Liverpool, UK.
  • Here whilst we walk / here whilst we talk – performance and lectures, at Der Farberei, September 2006. Munich, Germany.
  • In-presentable, at Casa Encendida, June 2006. Madrid, Spain.
  • NottDance festival, April/ May 2006. Nottingham, UK.
  • Arnolfini, May 2006. Bristol, UK.
  • Junction theatre, May 2006. Cambridge, UK.
  • Laban Centre, May 2006. London, UK.
  • Fierce! Festival, at Ikon Gallery, May 2006. Birmingham, UK.

Work in progress

  • Panorama festival, November 2005. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Andrea Sonnberger

José Luís Neves

Chris Van Der Burght

Torben Huss