Mal - Embriaguez Divina

POSTPONED TO 03 AND 04.02.21 AT SCHOUWBURG KORTRIJK 

To explore the various shapes of evil, a group drowning in a sea of paper transforms into a choir on a tribune. The title of Marlene Freitas' performance makes multiple references to the ambivalence of evil. “Mal" might mean unease, discomfort, pain, suffering, agony, sorrow, torment, lack, horror and also evil. Meanwhile Embriaguez Divina marks evil as a state of divine delusion, of dionysian ecstasy. 

Evil takes multiple shapes. It appears as a determining force in a large number of stories, and the theatre has long been the site where it is revealed and displayed. For some, the experience of the abyss of evil is a prerequisite for art. George Bataille places evil and art in close proximity to each other as two forces opposing the lawful world of rational calculation. He sees children as being committed to evil by revolting against an adult world of inhibiting conventions. Divine exaltation as a transformative insurrection of Evil against Good, as an invitation to break with order, to escape normalizations and to deviate from the script.

Choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas creates opulent and poetic worlds. She is inspired by mythological motifs while playing with references from high and pop culture, for instance in her works "Of Ivory and Flesh - Statues also Suffer" and "Bacantes - Prelude to a Purge".

Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Cape Verde, 1979) studied dance at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, in Lisbon at the Escola Superior de Dança and at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. In her native country, Cape Verde, she co-founded the dance group Compass and collaborates with musician Vasco Martins. She worked with Emmanuelle Huynh, Loïc Touzé, Tânia Carvalho, Boris Charmatz, among others. Her creations include: Bacchae - Prelude to a Purge (2017), Jaguar (2015), with Andreas Merk, of ivory and flesh - statues also suffer (2014), Paradise - private collection (2012-13), (M)imosa, co-created with Trajal Harrell, François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea (2011), Guintche (2010), A Seriedade do Animal (2009-10), Uns e Outros (2008), A Improbabilidade da Certeza (2006), Larvar (2006), Primeira Impressão (2005). The common denominator of these works is openness, impurity and intensity. In 2017 Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA), awarded Jaguar, the prize for the best choreography and in the same year she was distinguished by the government of Cape Verde for her cultural achievement. In 2018 created the piece Canine Jaunâtre 3 for Batsheva Dance Company. Still in 2018 La Biennale di Venezia has awarded MMF with the Silver Lion for Dance. She has an ongoing collaboration with O Espaço do Tempo (PT). She is the co-founder of P.OR.K, her production structure in Lisbon (PT).