The Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues has always interwoven tradition and innovation, creating a dance where ancestral rituals merge with the new forms of urban life. For the 35th anniversary of her Companhia de Danças, she returns to the REF with Borda, a piece created in the Centro de Artes da Maré, which she has createde together with Redes da Maré for over twenty years in the favela da Maré, one of the most big favelas in Rio de Janeiro. In Portuguese, Borda not only means “to create” or “to decorate” but also “to trace a boundary” or “a barrier.” It is on these boundaries that Rodrigues seems to build her performance, weaving together fears, hopes, cultural identities, and the ever-evolving movements together with her collaborators. Nine performers take the stage, moving through fluid spaces where dreams and memories intertwine and reinvent themselves in a new tapestry of bodies and matter, fabric and plastic, merging and separating to create vibrant and powerful tableaux vivants.
Born in 1956 in São Paulo, where she studied Classical Ballet and History at São Paulo University (USP), Lia Rodrigues became involved in the contemporary dance movement in the 1970s and was part of the Maguy Marin Dance Company from 1980 to 1982. In 1990, she founded the Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças in Rio de Janeiro, offering year-round activities such as workshops, creations, and rehearsals. In 1992, she created and directed the Panorama Festival, the most important festival in Rio, for fourteen years. Since 2004, her company has focused on educational and artistic activities in the Maré Favela, in partnership with the NGO Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré. This collaboration led to the creation of the Centro de Artes da Maré (2009) and the Escola Livre de Danças da Maré (2011). Over 40 years, she has combined training, artistic creation, international touring, and educational workshops worldwide. She received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Officier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government and the Prince Claus Award in 2014.
Created by Lia Rodrigues
Danced and created in collaboration with: Leonardo Nunes, Valentina Fittipaldi, Andrey da Silva, David Abreu, Raquel Alexandre, Daline Ribeiro, João Alves, Cayo Almeida, Vitor de Abreu
Creation assistant: Amalia Lima
Dramaturgy: Silvia Soter
Artistic collaboration and images: Sammi Landweer
Lighting design: Nicolas Boudier
Stage management and lighting: Magali Foubert and Baptistine Méral
Soundtrack : Miguel Bevilacqua (from excerpts of a recording made in 1938 in northern Brazil by the Folklore Research Mission conceived by writer and intellectual Mario de Andrade and excerpts from the public domain music “Amor Amor Amor”, part of the repertoire of “Cavalo Marinho”, a Brazilian dance performed by Luiz Paixão. )
Mixing and mastering: Ronaldo Gonçalves
Production/ manager: Colette de Turville
Assistant production: Astrid Toledo
Production and manager Brazil: Gabi Gonçalves/ Corpo Rastreado
Secretary/administration: Gloria Laureano
Logistical support Centro de Artes da Maré: Sendy Silva
Teachers: Amalia Lima, Leonardo Nunes, Valentina Fittipaldi, Andrey Silva
Costumes: Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças
Seamstress: Antonia Jardilino De Paiva
Acknowledgements: Thérèse Barbanel, Corpo Rastreado, Inês Assumpção, Luiz Assumpção, Diana Nassif, Centro de Artes da Maré team, Jacques Segueilla.
Dedicated to Max Nassif Earp
Production : Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças
Coproduction : Kunstenfestivaldesarts – Bruxelles/ Maison de la danse/Pôle européen de création, en soutien à la Biennale de Lyon / Chaillot – Théâtre National de la Danse – Paris / Le CENTQUATRE – Paris/ Festival d’Automne à Paris / Wiener Festwochen – Wien / La Bâtie – Festival de Genève – Comédie de Genève / Romaeuropa-Rome/ PACT Zollverein – Essen/ One Dance Festival-Plovdiv /Theater Freiburg/ Muffatwerk- Münich / Passages Transfestival – Metz / Festival Perspectives – Saarbrücken / Le Parvis scène nationale Tarbes-Pyrénées / Tanz im August /HAU Hebbel am Ufer – Berlin/ Théâtre Garonne, scène européenne – Toulouse Le Lieu Unique, Scène nationale de Nantes (resency at La Libre Usine)
With the support of Fondation Ammodo, Redes da Maré et Centro de Artes da Maré
Lia Rodrigues is an international artist associated with CENTQUATRE-PARIS and the Maison de la danse/Pôle européen de création, in support of the Lyon Biennial.
