Catol Teixeira: ODE

Venue: Löwenbräukunst, Rampe (ground floor)

A synonym for homage, an ode is a poem traditionally accompanied by music, dedicated to a person or an event. In this case, however, ode reveals itself as a dance dedicated to gaps, to ruptures and to transformations – a lament for what slips through the fingers, for what never arrives, for what once was almost here.

Catol Teixeira’s solo piece ODE unfolds as a journey through grief, attentive to its many phases, the contradictory emotions it awakens, and the questions it leaves open. For what escapes us, for what never arrives, for what was almost there.

ODE becomes a rehearsal of farewell, and the body transforms into an archive of past movements. The act of mourning permeates the choreographic material – sometimes as an exaggeration, sometimes as an earnest gesture. In repetitive yet constantly shifting movements, interrupted by unexpected moments. Teixeira’s body materializes and lingers in the tension between loss and grace – not to hold on, but to let go of what has already changed.

Catol’s choreographic experimentations function as channels for revealing nuances and tactics of coexistence and relation, and their interests center on collaborative processes that bring together artistic practices and personal-collective inquiries, generating an intimate dialogue with kuir (“queer”) and trans-(dis)orientations –recalling dreams and enacting an obstinate act of escape from the imposed narratives of modernity-coloniality.

The performance ODE is presented as an extended part of the exhibition Disobedience Archive (Canopy for Broken Time) – in Dialogue with Raqs Media Collective. This work was curated by Paula Thomaka.

Catol Teixeira is a dancer and choreographer living and working between Rio de Janeiro and Geneva. Born in Porto Alegre (Brasil) and based in Rio since adolescence, Catol trained in ballet, circus, and contemporary dance forms, developing a practice in which composition becomes a form of translation. Since then, they have been developing choreographic and performance practices that shape the body of their works, presented at venues and festivals such as Pavillon ADC (Geneva), Théâtre Vidy (Lausanne), La Ménagerie de Verre (Paris), 8:tension series at ImPulsTanz Festival (Vienna), among others.

• No registration required
• Free event
• Flashing lights and strobe effects