A dancing together by four women
In children’s imagination, the night is perhaps the first of the great mysteries. The shadows, the darkness, the silence, the street sounds and the movements in the house inspire fantasies, a lot of fears and some fascination. In the children’s universe, night is synonymous with the unknown, on the one hand, and infinite possibility, on the other. Night terrors, monsters under the bed, heavy rain that won’t let you sleep, but also happy dreams, bedtime stories, lullabies, goodnight cuddles, moonlight.The night is, by definition, a time of fantasy, and it remains that way in our adult life, becoming associated with loneliness, sleeplessness, deviation, but also with intimacy and reflection. For all these reasons, night is ancestrally linked to the artistic world, it rests somewhere between melancholy and transgression.Nocturne will have an original score by João Godinho, where the piano will be used not only as a melodic instrument, but also as a vehicle for sounds that are at times enchanting, and at others, terrifying. As a musical genre, the nocturne – a short piano piece characteristic of the romantic period and with a melancholy mood – will be the natural source of inspiration.This piece aims to bridge the gap between the art world and the world of childhood, two realms where the night never ceased to be symbolic, because it never stopped representing the line between what we see and what we don’t see, between what we imagine, what we dream and what we fear.Nocturne will take inspiration from many possible nights – in a village or in a city, under the stars or in improbable shelters, under the covers in the Arctic Circle, under water in the Caribbean, in a shared room in a large house, or in a bunkbed in a small flat. Different sounds and experiences, with or without stars, but always under the same dark sky.
Co-creation Joana Gama and Victor Hugo Pontes. Artistic Direction and Set Design Victor Hugo Pontes. Performers Joana Gama, Paulo Mota and Victor Hugo Pontes. Musical Composition João Godinho. Technical Direction and Light Design Wilma Moutinho. Sonoplasty João Godinho and Suse Ribeiro. Sound Design Suse Ribeiro. Stage Machinery Filipe Silva. Production Director Joana Ventura. Executive Producer Paula Adriana Silva. Residency Support Centro Cultural Vila Flor. Co-produced by Nome Próprio, São Luiz Teatro Municipal, Teatro Municipal do Porto.Rivoli.CampoAlegre and Centro Cultural de Belém / Fábrica das Artes.
Ages 6 to 10 years old
Project financed by the Portuguese government – Ministry of Culture / Arts Department