As a homage to Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, one of the most important Portuguese poets of the 20^th century, this triple-bill evening interweaves the moving images radiated from her poetry with the laws of internal gravitation of the dance steps. The three beautiful pieces – Around the Abeyance, Autumn for Graça and Requiem – create the moment in which the choreographic discourse assumes itself like a metaphor. Let us witness how the dancers and choreographers echo with Sophia’s poetry and immerse ourselves in the visible world of dance.

In the work I will create, inspired by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen’s poetry, I will start by instilling in the creative process the feeling that her poetry instigates me, inciting the dancers to be frightened, and let the feeling experienced in the interior of our ontological conditions radiate moving images that, interwoven with the laws of internal gravitation of the dance steps, appear as a transfigured substance.

And, each step being the slow or accelerated sequence of the previous step, it is in their chain that the work is built, expands and comes to life.

This is the moment when the dance technique is diluted in the machinery of the body and on the strength of the muscles to give way to the emotion initially inculcated.

Here, it is the moment in which the choreographic discourse assumes itself like a metaphor. Imagine the fragile figure who dances around the abeyance; a group of people distressed and girded within a minimal beam of light; the flight that passes through space with the force of a jump; the character that slides to the ground by an imaginary ramp; the one who hugs to speak of love, or who, in a gesture of abandonment and discouragement, simply lets himself fall.

Saint-Exupéry once said of men, “(...) Men are only those who the song or poem or prayer have alimented, those who find themselves built within (...)”. It is around here that we will walk while choreographing this piece: to live within our condition of artists with the echo of Sophia’s poetry, and to let ourselves be aligned while building in the visible world of dance.

By Vasco Wellenkamp

2019 marks the centenary of Sophia de Mello Bryner Andresen’s birth and the Portuguese Contemporary Dance Company has created the commissioned work On Substance of Time to pay tribute to this major Portuguese poet. Created by the well-known Portuguese choreographer Vasco Wellenkamp and the company’s resident choreographer Miguel Ramalho, this production leads the dancers to immerse themselves into the poetic world created by Sophia. On Substance of Time comprises three pieces: Around the Abeyance, a celebration of youth; Autumn for Graça, a duet that engages the audience with the intricacies of a romantic relationship; and Requiem, a moving yet tragic piece where the young men and women on stage seem to have returned to the situation before 25 April 1974, a glorious day for Portugal.

By Tomas Tse
Born in Hong Kong and graduated from the Department of Philosophy of the University of Saint Joseph, Tse has been engaged in writing and editorial work and has accumulated years of performing experience. He now heads the Theatre Aether, a dance company dedicated to Butoh.

This article is excerpted and translated from Chinese