New Creation

An artist who has taken the dance scene by storm over the last two decades, Bruno Beltrão’s alchemy of contemporary dance and urban dance distinguishes itself by its underlying tension between rigor and fervor. In this latest piece, the bodies of the dancers become active figures in an alternative political movement, to mesmerizing effect. 

What is so striking in the different forms that the work of Bruno Beltrão takes is its overwhelming originality. Since H2, presented at the Festival d’Automne in 2005, each of his pieces conjugates vehemence and voluptuousness of movement, velocity and precision in dance. Beneath its raw, urban allures, a near-scientific approach of the body is at work in terms of its relationship with the sensory environment, namely music, lighting, and space. But there is always more to Bruno Beltrão’s work than mere form. Following on from Inoah, a work seemingly as organic as it is masterfully written, his latest work reveals the common ground between aesthetics and politics. As such, it is part of the movement to stand up against the systematic censorship and brutalization of the artistic scene in Brazil. The language invented by the choreographer punches a hole through the thick fog of authoritarianism put in place by the extreme right, with all the paralysis and division it has orchestrated. A necessary gesture in the aim of rehabilitating freedom and solidarity. 

Photo: © Wonge Bergmann