In this workshop, choreographers and dancers Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz proposed that participants looked for the intermediate or transitional place between what was familiar and what was strange.
Drawing on a set of research and improvisation tools, the artists proposed a focused exploration of the notion of limit — not in the strict sense of physical or emotional extremity (though that dimension ran through the work), but in that instant when a system could no longer respond, or attempted to compensate for its failure with a displaced reaction.
Sofia and Vítor developed a series of research and improvisation tools with simple and clear premises, some dubbed “impossible tasks”, where the focus was not so much on their virtuoso execution, but on the way they transgressed and distorted them — revealing some of the intimate connections they established with things.
Throughout the workshop, the choreographers worked on the relationship between gesture and movement with the word and the voice: the word, assumed as malleable matter, which existed beyond its meaning; the voice, as the excess that “overflowed” the bodies.
Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz are a duo of artists/choreographers who have been collaborating since 2006. The hybrid nature of their research, combined with a curiosity and need for experimentation, has led them to create various shows, performances, soundtracks, videos, podcasts and installations, crossing different contexts and blurring boundaries between artistic areas. Their stage shows, predominantly performed by the two of them, use a refined choreographic language in connection with words and voice, and have been presented in more than 17 countries. In 2011, they were awarded the Prix Jardin d’Europe and the Aerowaves Spring Forward for their 2011 show Um gesto que não passa de uma ameaça. They have been invited to collaborate with various artists, including Catarina Dias, Marco Martins, Clara Andermatt, Mark Tompkins, Felipe Hirsch, Boris Charmatz and, more frequently, with Tiago Rodrigues. They teach occasionally and have organized residencies and research groups for artists in different contexts. They were invited to curate PACAP 2 (2018/2019) and PACAP 6 (2023) - Advanced Creation Program in Performing Arts. Between 2023/24, they are Resident Artists at the Champalimaud Foundation.
