Crítica publicada no Jornal O Globo

Published on October 16th, 2014 | by pinzon17

Jogo de Damas

Adriana Pavlova

It’s always very good to see a creator being able to reinvent herself. In 14 years of existence, the Esther Weitzman Dance Company has shown a great capacity to impress the public with pieces of work that every now and then propose new challenges to the group’s choreographic research. This has been done systematically, when, instead of using the Company’s dancers, Esther tries out new partnerships for specific projects, generating a diversity of artistic experiences that is capable of oxygenating and pointing towards new directions. “Jogo de Damas”, performance that can be seen from Friday to Sunday, at Espaço SESC, in Copacabana, until July 14th, is one of these extra projects coordinated by Esther. And for the public’s delight, a very successful idea, in which the dance conquers the rare balance between lightness, a bit of humor and an interesting pinch of playfulness, focusing at the same time on the choreographic strength and creativity.

PRECISE MOVEMENT

If in 2006 Esther’s cast for “Territórios” was formed by 8 experienced male dancers (or, in other words, artists over their 30′s), now she inverts the proposal choosing a women-only cast of eight, each of them from different generations. The game that names the dance piece starts when each one of theses paths and artistic backgrounds are in evidence, emphasizing a fascinating lose-win situation when it comes to artistic competencies and physical age.

Esther was able to unite on stage at the same time, experienced artists that haven’t been performing in a long time, such as Giselda Fernandes (Os Dois Cia) and Renata Maciel (ex-Lia Rodrigues and João Saldanha), but also a new generation of artists such as the great Thamiris Carvalho, responsible for one of the few solos of the spectacle. It’s a group work in which, very appropriately, the interprets are called creator-dancers. Clearly, there is a little bit of every one of them in each scene.

The game that baptizes the performance reveals itself in the beginning when the artists are positioned such as pieces in a checkerboard and ready to collide, although without a fight. Such as in a game, they explore the precise movements of diagonals. Esther coordinates with mastery a dance that is at times fun at other times dramatic but always impregnated with contagious joy and disposition that shows the strong sense of a group made of individualities in which femininity and Brazilianness blend.

With almost no use of music and a whole lot of silence, the soundtrack, when used, serves to mark strong passages of the piece such as the race in “Road to nowhere”, of David Byrne. Complementing the other aspects, the eight women are dressed beautifully with costumes signed by Gerah Diaz and André Camacho. The lightening, also appropriate, is signed by José Geraldo Furtado.

“Jogo de Damas” is, without a doubt, a must-see.

30/06/2013 – Jornal o Globo