It's fiction, but inspired by the reality of a land where stories abound. “Nos de Voz” is a dance, music and word show that will tour this Friday, June 25th, and Saturday, June 26th, the streets of Cercal do Alentejo, in Santiago do Cacém, to make known the many voices that are part of the identity of a village of amateurs, miners and a very famous gazpacho.
After the sea, it was time to “Lavrar o Mira ea Lagoa” – the name of the new Cosanostra Cooperative project that, after Aljezur and Monchique, will bring culture to Odemira and Santiago do Cacém.
“Nos de Voz”, at Cercal, is the first show and will soon show the working philosophy of this “Lavrar o Mira ea Lagoa”: look for what exists in the territory, involve the local population and create a new cultural offer.
“It all started five weeks ago and we have been talking to many people here at Cercal. We quickly found out that the locals are very fond of talking, of telling their stories», says Ricardo Machado, artistic director, between laughs. Sul Informação.
Madalena Victorino, one of those responsible for “Lavrar o Mira e a Lagoa”, explains that the objective has always been “to try to find a bridge of dialogue between the local culture, the people who live here and the artists, at a crossroads between different worlds”.
«It was this crossing of dimensions that gave the title to the show “We of Voice”, «We, the foreigners we have seen from afar and the Voice of those who belong to Cercal do Alentejo, in a meeting between life and art», he says.
And it will be the stories of this town that will give body to a «travel» show that will pass through various locations.
One of these stories is that of a famous amateur ( straighten) which is remembered by António Albino, president of the Parish Council.
“He was a well-known man around the area. People came from far away, by taxi, buses came with people looking for a cure», he says.
For “Nos de Voz”, Ricardo Machado found a grandson of this famous amateur and created a choreography based on "this idea of the rights".
«We have a whole choreographic part, we started to get into a fiction of what it is like to be manipulated by a amateur invisible, what is it like to catch someone…», he explains.
But there is more. In 2005, Cercal entered the Guinness Book, with the production of 4524 liters of gazpacho. It was in July of that year and the cold soup was then distributed to the people who attended.
“I was very interested in this most popular idea. How could we make a more exquisite gazpacho? Or more alchemical? And it was curious because, at the same time, we were meeting a Palestinian girl who has lived here in Cercal for three months, who is called Amin, and it reminded me of the Arab and Moorish world that lived here in our territory and how these ingredients they are very common to ours», says Ricardo Machado.
Thus, in a «part of the show», two actors go to drink a gazpacho…but «special».
“Nos de Voz” will also feature Cante Alentejano and music by the Banda Filarmónica, and the starting point for everything was not chosen by chance either.
Largo dos Caeiros, with its large roundabout, is «the center of the village». «I feel that the inhabitants of Cercal live a lot in this space. At one time, it was there that the sale of cattle took place, it was where the Volta a Portugal by Bike passed. So, our show starts there and it's an invitation to people to dive with us», says the artistic director.
On the part of the locals, after some reluctance at the beginning of the project, there is the expectation that they will adhere in force to this “We of Voice”, which will have presentations today and Saturday, starting at 20:30 pm.
“Perhaps, as this is the first time that one has entered a project like this, people may have some initial fear. Not being so comfortable, they are not local people, but after seeing it and realizing it, I think they will like it», guarantees the president of the Parish Council.
Even because, he emphasizes, this “Lavrar o Mira ea Lagoa” brings “something new” to the municipality of Santiago do Cacém. «We, both the municipality and the parish, immediately embraced this project with all our heart and soul», says António Albino.
He himself will play an important role in this show, says Ricardo Machado.
“We're going to end up in the garden of the chairman of the Board, with Filipe and Pedro, two participants, teaching how they manage, with a guitar, to dig and take care of the land,” he says, laughing.
It is a metaphor for an initiative that wants to sow culture in a village of stories (did you know, for example, that it was from a mine, in Cercal, that the iron that built the 25 de Abril Bridge was extracted?).
Anyone who wants to watch this show just has to register. here Admission is free.
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