Vera Mantero & Guests (Portugal)

Six performers, lined up on the stage, speaking, stammering, mumbling, humming and miaowing. Their voices turn into melodic variations, transforming the substance of the words into abstract hymns. They expressively point, make gestures and assume postures. They address the audience directly: ‘We are a group – You are a group.’ Having done works like Perhaps she could dance first ... and think afterwards, Vera Mantero – probably the most important exponent of contemporary dance in Portugal – returns to her dance techniques and her classical ballet training with Until the Moment .... Her present work represents a radical break with this artificial past. She declares the empty room to be a central element. In so doing, Mantero creates a tension with the colossal object created by scenographer Nadia Lauro, which rises up behind the performers, matching the meaninglessness and emptiness of the spoken hymns. El Periodico from Barcelona on Vera Mantero’s choreography: Poetry on the Stage.