…it had at least five wounds on his body
…it was a famous war horse, carried his knight safely…
It’s through Marengo, the horse, that she presents herself. Dancing through her histories, memories and imagination. Events so real that could never have existed or be from someone else’s life.
This is a presentation work, so the artist main goal is to bring the audience closer to her intimacy, way of thinking, choosing and to interpret. However all the scenic objects and creative proposals balance between the myth and reality, the truth and the lie.
“Strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in
Spring/ My Summer wine is really made from all these things”
Ana Isabel Castro was born in 1994. She graduated at ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE DANÇA and she also joined FAICC from Companhia Instável. As an Erasmus student she spend one year at MUK in Vienna, where she worked with Esther Balfe, Saju Hari and Georg Blaschke. Through the years she has collaborated as a dancer with cie 7273, Circolando, Companhia Instável, KALE Companhia de Dança and Joclécio Azevedo. Ana presented her first piece called “MARENGO” at DDD — Festival Dias da Dança in 2019. Currently, she is one of the young associated artists of Teatro Municipal do Porto.
Direction and Performance Ana Isabel Castro
Musical Direction Ana Isabel Castro e Gonçalo da Silva Nova
Technical Direction Ricardo Alves
Performers Filipa Saavedra Nelita Natália Vânia Pereira Tiago Araújo
Executive Production Sara Marques
Design Paulo Mariz
Artistical Residency Companhia Instável (Porto)
“_I already know the title of the piece – Ana Isabel told me, when residing for the 1st version … Marengo – the name of the famous horse of Napoleon (Bonaparte). His fame was such that he was thought to be a big and powerful horse when, in fact, he was a weakling! My piece is about this … ” Marengo is a piece punctuated by contrasts. Disturbing and challenging, it intersperses the same dose of ingenuity and subtlety. A sequence of scenes punctuated by performative separators in the shape of a taciturn chorus that contrasts with the extravagant and baroque image of the performer. A face with an impassive expression, an image of no effort in a delicate and silent body that does not perspire, does not flush, does not change, whatever the physical effort it sustains. It challenges us to follow his gaze, regardless of what that body may do. In a second part, a new challenge to the viewer’s gaze with a somewhat suspended image that calls for a painting from the colonial era. In each frame of the piece, there is something eternal and sculptural, a plastic component purified in a fragile and, at the same time, extremely provocative body.
Ana Figueira
CONTACTS
Production: Sara Marques – 913936950
Mickael de Oliveira was born in France, in 1984, and has lived in Portugal since 1999. In 2013, he got his Ph.D. in contemporary Portuguese and European dramaturgy from the School of Humanities – University of Lisbon, where he is post-doctoral fellow researching the presence of literature in contemporary theatre and dance. In 2008, Mickael founded Colectivo 84, the theatre company for which he develops playwriting and directing projects. His work O que é teu entregou aos mortais was distinguished with the Maria Matos New Playwriting Award (Maria Matos Municipal Theatre, 2007), and Clytemnestra received an Honorable Mention – António José da Silva Prize (D. Maria II National Theatre, Lisbon / FUNARTE, Brazil, 2012). Some of his most recent productions include Oslo–Fuck Them All and Everything Will Be Wonderful (co-created with Nuno M Cardoso, Gil Vicente Academic Theatre, São Luiz Municipal Theatre), The Constitution (2016, Dona Maria National Theatre), and the diptych Socrates Must Die (Socrates’ Death / The Life of John Smith, 2017/2018, Vila Flor Cultural Centre, São Luiz Municipal Theatre, Viriato Theatre, Gil Vicente Academic Theatre. Mickael has served as the artistic director of END – New Dramaturgy Encounters, a project that aims to foster new Portuguese and international playwriting (1st edition at the São Luiz Municipal Theatre, Lisbon, Nov. 2010; 2nd and 3rd editions at the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre, March, Coimbra, 2015/2019). He was Assistant Professor of Arts Administration and Artistic Studies at the School of Education and Humanities (Leiria), guest Lecturer at the School of Theatre and Film Studies (Lisbon), and guest Assistant Professor at the School of Humanities – University of Coimbra. From September 2011 to August 2015, Mickael was Assistant Artistic Director of the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre (Coimbra).
Patrícia Portela is a writer and performance maker born in 1974, living between Belgium and Portugal. She has a BA in set and costume design by the high school of theatre and cinema of Lisbon, a Masters of Arts in scenography and dramaturgy of space from the University of Utrecht and Saint Martins college of art in Antwerp, a post-graduation in theatricality and performativity from APT in Antwerp, a film stage at the European film school in Ebeltoft, Denmark, and a Masters in Philosophy of the University of Leuven, Belgium. Since 2003 she has worked on her own performances and installations in collaboration with international artists. She has achieved national and international recognition for her unusual work and is considered one of the most daring artists and innovative writers of her generation. She won the Revelation Prize in 1994 for her creative work in performance and cinema, the Prize Teatro na Década for T5 in 1999, the Gulbenkian Foundation Prize Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão for the performance Flatland I in 2004 and was one of the 5 finalists of the Sonae Media Art Prize 2015 with her installation Parasomnia, amongst other prizes. She has been invited to participate in the prestigious International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa in 2013 and to be the first Outreach Fellow. She was the first literary resident in Berlin in 2016, sponsored by the Portuguese Embassy in Germany/Instituto Camões. She lectures “dramaturgy and space” and “image” regularly at Universities and cultural centers in Portugal (such as University of Minho or University of Lisbon) and abroad (University of Antwerp, Escola de Escrita in Curitiba, etc). She is the author of several novels, short stories and performances, such as Dias úteis (2016, considered one of the books of the year by several reviewers) or Banquet (finalist at the Novel Prize of APE 2012). She is a chronicle writer for the prestigious Jornal de Letras since 2017 and for the National Radio Antena 1.
Rui Horta was one of the most influencial choreographers of his generation, his work being presented all over the world such as the Theatre de la Ville, that co-produced it for over a decade. He directed S.O.A.P. at the Mousonturm, and created for many companies such as NDT, Cullberg, Geneva, Gotemburg, etc. 
