Art Happens

Zona Franca (new)

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Cia. Suave – Alice Ripoll and Cia. Suave have created a space where they pursue freedom, both for the performers and the public. At the same time, a global free zone, a more somber kind, seems to be sprawling across the world economy. Zona Franca makes use of ritualistic elements such as trance and vertigo aroused by drums. Their new creation proceeds the group’s research in the previous shows Suave and Cria, on the connections between urban and popular dances in Brazil, and contemporary performance. They ask themselves: what voices do these dances speak, what can we express through them? Besides “Pasinho”, the work presents elements of contact dance, theater, vocal research, Afrohouse, Sabala, Tiktok, and dances from the north and northeast of Brazil, such as Pisadinha and Brega Funk.

World premiere
06 – 08 July 2023
Festival de Marseille

A dance group, which is more than the sum of its parts, moves through Brazil, a country reborn from the ashes. The group observes their many deaths and lives in the course of a lifetime, like a snake that sheds its dead skin. Birthdays come, celebrations of life that never measure up to it. A balloon bursts during a child’s party, which is a fright in the middle of the celebration. The sudden end of something beautiful, like an implosion, a shock.

Would a nation choose to walk towards its own destruction? How do the forces that make us up, fight with each other? Cia. Suave and Alice Ripoll have brought questions about these crossroads to the scene. They wonder how much an artistic encounter can change the course of a life. What happens when a society chooses barbarism, war, and the individual finds himself powerless? Are we really making our personal choices?

Zona Franca deals with strong feelings, confronting collectives such as religions, rituals, festivities. How much does a group encourage or suppress one’s capacity of being free? What events or circumstances can change a trajectory? A meeting, a book, love, religion, the government, an opportunity? One defining moment. Like a portal you go through.

Choreography: Alice Ripoll
Performers: Gabriel Tiobil, GB Dançarino Brabo, Hiltinho Fantástico, Katiany Correia, Maylla Eassy, ​​Mey Barreto, Petersonsidy, Romulo Galvão, Tamires Costa, Thamires Candida, Vinicius Rodrigues
Assistant directors: Alan Ferreira and Thais Peixoto
Light design: Tomás Ribas and Diana Joels
Set and costume design: Raphael Elias
Assistant costume designer and seamstress: Gabriel Alves
Soundtrack: Alice Ripoll and Alan Ferreira
Sound technician and rehearser: Renato Linhares
Illustration and Designer: Caick Carvalho
Photos: Renato Mangolin
Social Media: Ana Righi
Production: Natasha Corbelino, Corbelino Cultural
Executive Producer: Milena Monteiro
Production assistants: Milena Monteiro and Thais Peixoto
Co-production: Festival de Marseille, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Charleroi Danse, RomaEuropa, Tandem Scène nationale, tanzhaus nrw, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Julidans, Les Mécènes DanseAujourdhui
Diffusion: ART HAPPENS

DatePerformanceCity CountryOrganisation/Venue
06.07.2023Zona Franca  (world premiere)Marseille (fr)Festival de Marseille
07.07.2023Zona Franca  (world premiere)Marseille (fr)Festival de Marseille
08.07.2023Zona Franca  (world premiere)Marseille (fr)Festival de Marseille
14.10.2023Zona FrancaDouai (fr)TANDEM scène national Arras-Douai
20.10.2023Zona FrancaCharleroi (be)Charleroi danse
21.10.2023Zona FrancaCharleroi (be)Charleroi danse
28.10.2023Zona FrancaDusseldorf (de)Tanzhaus NRW
29.10.2023Zona FrancaDusseldorf (de)Tanzhaus NRW
09.11.2023Zona FrancaParis (fr)Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS
10.11.2023Zona FrancaParis (fr)Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS
11.11.2023Zona FrancaParis (fr)Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS