CATTIVO
A swarm of music stands comes to life in CATTIVO, a captivating installation that blurs the boundaries between object and being. In this visually stunning and musically charged world, a seemingly simple utility transforms into a symphony of motion, rhythm, and emotion. What was once a silent bearer of sheet music now emerges as a living, breathing entity that feels, reacts, and communicates.
Festival Brandhaarden
Continuously accessible between 12:00 and 20:00
Free admission with a performance ticket from one of the other Brandhaarden performances.
CATTIVO
Originally conceived as part of Bacchae – Prelude to a Purge (2017), Marlene Monteiro Freitas continues her powerful experiment with this installation. The music stands are not merely props; they take center stage. They bend, stretch, and form a community of fantastical proportions – a hybrid of puppet, animal, plant, and human. Each stand seems to possess its own voice, character, and intention.
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CATTIVO invites us to look beyond the familiar, to see objects not just as tools but as reflections of our own complexity and vulnerability. With playfulness and depth, Freitas challenges us to reflect: where does life begin – and where does it end?
Marlene Monteiro Freitas
Marlene Monteiro Freitas (1979) is the figurehead of the new Portuguese dance scene. She is known for her abundant and expressionistic pieces, inspired by the carnival of her Cape Verdean youth, which combine grotesque figures with a powerful visual language that flirts with the extravagant worlds of fashion and pop culture. Freitas' work, situated at the intersection of dance and theater, is both visually captivating and thematically profound, addressing social issues and offering timely political commentary. Her performances are characterized by a unique blend of slapstick and serious undertones, with music playing a prominent role.
Born in Cape Verde, she was a co-founder of the dance group Compass and studied at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, the Escola Superior de Dança, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. As a co-founder of P.OR.K., a production organization based in Lisbon, she has revitalized theatricality in dance. In recent years, she has transitioned to larger venues, where she often appears on stage as part of her performances, which always begin with an image that she envisions in her mind.
Freitas collaborates with a diverse group of creators from around the world, giving her work a dynamic and innovative quality that challenges and inspires audiences.
photo ©Bea Borgers
Brandhaarden
Brandhaarden is an international theatre festival that brings performances from notable foreign theatre makers to Amsterdam. The festival provides a unique overview of a single creator, house, writer, region, or theme. In previous editions, we highlighted directors such as Katie Mitchell, Milo Rau, and the collective Rimini Protokoll, writer Édouard Louis, the Southern European region (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), and city theatres such as Münchner Kammerspiele, Volksbühne Berlin, and Peter Brooks Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Credits
Team André Calado, Andreas Merk, Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Miguel Figueira, Tiago Cerqueira, Yannick Fouassier
Production P.OR.K – Soraia Gonçalves, Joana Costa Santos (Lisbon); BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts (Lisbon)
Distribution Key Performance (Stockholm)
Coproduction Teatro Nacional São João (Porto, PT); São Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisbon)
Acknowledgements Alexandre Mota, Armindo Neves Ruivo ANR, Auto Coelho, Berto Pinheiro, Bruno Leonel Marques, Cláudio Silva (Salpinxancient greek trumpet), Eurico Gonçalves, Gliding Barnacles, Jorge Gomes, José Capote, Lourenço e Letra, Márcio Oliveira.
