ÔSS – Dançando com a Diferença & Marlene Monteiro Freitas

ÔSS is the Creole word for “bone.” As a physical architecture, bones structure and support the soft and fragile elements of the body. At the same time, bones hold ancient secrets inscribed within them.

For this extraordinary project, the inclusive dance company Dançando com a Diferença from Madeira, Portugal, under the artistic direction of Henrique Amoedo, collaborates with the exceptional choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas. Together, they create a kind of collective body on stage, where the organs are rearranged and take on new functions: when a foot assumes the role of the brain, the heart serves as an elbow, and the knees become a liver and an ear, new perspectives on the world might also become possible.

The result is a unique performance full of mysteries and contrasts, where the soft and the hard, the yielding and the resistant coexist without contradiction. In this sense, the clinically cold stage space, which could equally well be a laboratory or a cruise ship, is filled with the warmth radiated by the performers. They appear carefree and exuberant, and at times, it seems as though the entirety of humanity has gathered on the stage.

ÔSS is a wild evening full of dances and rituals; spectacle interlaced with small gestures. Visually powerful, dreamlike sequences alternate with grotesque humor and touching moments of fragile tenderness. ÔSS also marks the return of Marlene Monteiro Freitas to Munich. Pieces like Mal – Embriaguez Divina and Bacchae – Prelude to a Purge were co-produced by the Münchner Kammerspiele. Together with the Münchner Kammerspiele, the International DANCE Festival Munich now presents ÔSS.

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Philippe Laurent

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Carlos Fernandes

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Philippe Laurent

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