Cullberg (SE)
Guerrilla
Guerrilla
Cullberg (SE)
Performance
Vitlycke - Centre for Performing Arts
Sunday, 14 September 18.00
Cullberg works for the very first time with Brazilian choreographer and dancer Renan Martins. In this new immersive dance performance, he collaborates with Olof Dreijer, Swedish DJ, musician and founding member of the electronic pop group The Knife. It becomes a journey that challenges the conventional separation between dancers and the audience.
“I am very romantic about dance. I love it, I think it is important. I think it will save us from many things.” – Renan Martins
Infused with a vibrant pulse that echoes through the space, creating an immersive experience where every heartbeat and movement is interconnected. Because there’s nothing stronger than the binding of life and how heat and blood keep the pace of our collective desire for freedom, touch, and attentive justice. The blurred line that links individual and collective. This rhythmic energy transforms the dance floor into a democratic space, where the roles of performer and spectator blur, fostering a sense of unity and shared experience. The audience is not merely a passive observer but an integral part of the performance, contributing to a collective energy that fuels the dance. This dance piece is not just a performance but a living, breathing entity that evolves with the input and presence of each participant. Here, the dance floor becomes a microcosm of society, where diverse voices and movements converge to create a unified and dynamic whole.
This work speaks to the power of collective action and artistic expression as tools for social engagement and transformation, which are familiar topics for Renan Martins.
Press cuts
“In a world that seems to be heading straight for hell, it is in many ways liberating to try to immerse yourself in the utopia of community and intense warmth that characterizes ‘Guerrilla’. It is beautiful to imagine dance as a resistance movement against the division of humanity, that it promotes presence in the present and listening.” - Svenska Dagbladet
“Almost imperceptibly, a space is then freed up where Cullberg’s dancers burn with a jolt of choreography that draws nourishment from social dance. It is uncomplicated, energetic and captivating. As a contrast, there is a diminuendo where the dancers let the rhythms of their feet speak and the audience is caught up to participate in a light “march” in two groups. An ambiguous sequence.” - Svenska Dagbladet
“The neon lights flash, darkness takes over, but the carnival atmosphere won't stop pounding in your body. Call it guerrilla movement – or freedom.”– - Svenska Dagbladet
” In ‘Guerrilla’ we all move on the same dance floor, or as if in a public square. We are encouraged to participate, friendly and quite determined, while the music rises from welcoming coziness to ceiling-lifting beats until almost the entire room is dancing enthusiastically.” - Dagens Nyheter
”Just when you start to wonder if it’s all just going to be a dance club, a center emerges in the room where the real dancers take over. In sporty, ragged clothes that mix tight with fluttering in yellow, blue, black, in costume design by the cullberger Suelem de Oliveira da Silva, the twelve in the ensemble move in changing group formations. Explosively, sweeping, stomping, with the center of gravity close to the floor, in a synchronization that also skillfully allows for charming individual swings, and vibrates like a bass line in the chest.” - Dagens Nyheter
“’Guerrilla’ deals with themes such as the individual and the collective, influence and control, togetherness and participation, closeness and distance. The state of emergency from the interactive mass dance lingers in a clever way: as a spectator you have a heightened awareness of your own role and reaction. It's an interesting approach.” - Dagens Nyheter
Artists
Renan Martins is a Brazilian choreographer and performer based in Heidelberg. He started his artistic path as a young actor in Rio de Janeiro and at the age of 17moved to Europe to study contemporary dance. He graduated from both SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) and P.A.R.T.S (Performing Arts
Research and Training Studios) where he started developing his choreographic work. His very first full evening piece Let Me Die In My Footsteps was chosen by
Aerowaves as one of the top works of 2016. Since then he has been making work, performing and touring in various cities in Europe and Brazil. He is a member of
Sekoia Artes Performativas, a Portuguese platform that has produced his work since 2018 and is managed by Tina Agency.
Parallel to his choreographic practice, he has been a performer for Iztok Kovac, Marysia Stoklosa, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Alexandra Waierstall, Ceren Oran, Daniel Linehan and Peter Savel.
Renan Martins is an active teacher sharing his work in various dance schools, festivals and companies around Europe and Brazil such as Impulstanz, Ballet National de Marseille, Norwegian Theatre Academy, Theater Bremen, B12, Danish National School of Performing Arts, Dance Theatre Heidelberg, SKH, Danscentrum Stockholm, Tictac Art Center, Antwerp Royal Conservatory, Centro de Artes da Maré/Lia Rodrigues and P.A.R.T.S., to name a few. Since 2013 he has been a member of Damaged Goods/Meg Stuart performing in Violet, Atelier III, Projecting [Space[ and most recently CASCADE. He is was part of DDE, a research project on diversity and inclusion together with the faculty of P.A.R.T.S. (BE), Manufacture (CH) and SKH (SK) from 2021 to 2024. As choreographer he has presented his independent work around Europe and Brasil and has choreographed for companies such as ME-SA (CZ), BOD.Y (SK), Dance Theatre Heidelberg (DE), Unusual Symptoms/Theater Bremen (DE) and Danish Dance Theatre (DK).
Cullberg is the national and international repertoire contemporary dance company in Sweden, continuously co-creating to make contemporary dance relevant for the many. Together with choreographers and their teams from around the world, we are exploring ideas on how dance can be defined, produced, and presented. Those explorations are the pillars of a company that is constantly in motion at the heart of the international arena. The core of the company consists of 17 extraordinary individual dancers with a central role in the creations. Cullberg is led by artistic director Kristine Slettevold and managing director Stina Dahlström and the institution is a part of Riksteatern, The Swedish National Touring Theatre.
Credits
Choreographer: Renan Martins
Music: Olof Dreijer
Costume: Suelem de Oliveira da Silva
Light Design: Christoffer Lloyd
Dramaturg: Ana Rocha
Live DJ: Maele ”CHEZA” Sabuni
Created in collaboration with the dancers: Anand Bolder, Thamiris Carvalho, Harrison Elliott, Shai Faran, Anna Fitoussi, Ida Inxi Holmlund, Girish Kumar Rachappa, Andrea Muelas Blanco, Camille Prieux, Noam Segal, Lilian Steiner, Vincent Van der Plas, Johanna Willig-Rosenstein, Mohamed Y. Shika och praktikanterna Ida Hebsgaard Mogensen, Ida Osten
Praktikanter från P.A.R.T.S.: Letícia Ferreira, Patric da Cunha
Performance photos: Carl Thorborg
In the performance you can also hear the song “Lago dos Cisnes” by Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovski / Thiago França & A Espetacular Charanga do França, by courtesy of Alternetmusic Produção e Gravação Ltda.
More information
More about: Guerrilla by Cullberg
Instagram: @cullbergofficial
Facebook: Cullberg
Trailer
Video trailer: Guerrilla – trailer