Quorum Ballet, the dance company founded by Daniel Cardoso, presented the Galili & Cardoso dance programme on 14, 15 and 16 October, at Cineteatro D. João V, Amadora. There were two parts: the first – Punch n’ Peck – is a creation of the Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili, formerly a member of the Bat Sheva and Bat Dor dance companies. In 1991, he founded his own, NND/Galili Dance, in Groningen, the Netherlands. The second part – 30000 Vidas | Aristides – is a choreography by Daniel Cardoso, the company’s resident choreographer and artistic director.

Punch n’ Peck is a version of the composition Me (2004) by Galili, with eight dancers on stage. It deals with human relationships and all the feelings and emotions involved in them. The dancers enter the scene lightly and joyfully, to the sound of three typewriters. They perform a collective exchange, where speed and lightness resemble a jovial energy, in an amusing set of bodies. As the monotonous sound of the keys imposes itself, other emotions take over the stage. A subtle claustrophobia thickens repeatedly, now also composed of gestures, and the lightness begins to question us, reminding us of the feeling of loss and refusal. Beatriz Graterol and Upock Qaucavan’s duet, which opens and closes this show, fills us with doubts and some insecurity about the possibility of having one day experienced closeness. The male dancer lays his head on the female dancer’s lap. And she, ambivalent, accepts him, only to refuse him soon afterwards. Both insist on their movements, in a mutually frustrating moment. What is the experience of proximity? The cadence of this choreography, accompanied by the soundtrack of the Dutch Percussion Group Percossa and Aaron Jay Jernis’ Still Movement with Hymn, brought about a wide range of moments, where the eight dancers seemed to be one in the scenic space. Each dancer affirmed their own gesture, managing to show their physical and interpretative dexterity. After all, human relationships are composed of identities with different forms of expression and needs.

In the second part of the show, we see Daniel Cardoso’s creation 30000 Vidas | Aristides, a tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portuguese consul in Bordeaux in the year of the Nazi invasion, during the Second World War). In five days, he granted around thirty thousand visas for Portugal to refugees trying to flee France.

The dancers presented syncopated movements in the same direction. And their bodies were repeatedly pulled back or thrown into the light by an invisible force, while sheets of paper fell in open air, piling up under their feet. And each danced in that instability. Occasionally someone heaped piles and piles of paper, evoking all the bureaucracies that clog and limit movement. There was a constant pressure in the air, bodies seemed heavy, trying to free themselves from gravity. There were isolated attempts to escape the routine of the days, but always blocked by an order, a geography imposed on everyone. The group of dancers, wearing a full grey suit, with a unified look, constantly tried to free themselves of restrained gestures. The choreography, elaborated from tension, revealed a strong hint of freedom.

This show is supported by Amadora City Council.

Credits – Part One – Punch n’Peck:

Choreography: Itzik Galili

Production and Artistic Assistance: Elisabeth Gibiat

Rehearser: Rui Reis Lopes

Dancers: Beatriz Gratenol, Fernando Queiroz, Inês Godinho, John Hackett, Margarida Carvalho, Mariana Matos, Pedro Alves and Upock Qauqavan (October 15 and 16 – duet performed by Inês Godinho and Pedro Alves; October 15 – duet performed by Beatriz Graterol and Upock Qauqavan)

Light and costume design: ItzikL

Music: Dutch Percussion Group Percossa – First part of the composition Me, in a musical note played to the sound of three typewriters and Aaron Jay Kernis – Still Movement Roth Hymn – II Hymn, SAN Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Neale

Technical Crew: David Vaquinhas and Marco Dias

Duration: 26 min

Target Audience: from 6 years old onwards

Credits – Second part – 30000 Lives | Aristides

Choreography, light design, costumes and set design: Daniel Cardoso

Assistant artistic direction and ballet master: Rui Reis Lopes

Dancers: Beatriz Gratenol, Hahyun Kin, Inês Godinho, John Hackett, Margarida Carvalho, Mariana Matos, Pedro Alves and Upock Qauqavan

Music: Frank Bretschneider, Kronos Quartet, Max Richter and Ólafur Arnalds

Technical Crew: David Vaquinhas and Marco Dias

Duration: 50 min

Target Audience: from 6 years old onwards