HAU 1: April 7th/8th, 7:30 pm

Marcelo Evelin / Demolition Inc.
+ Núcleo Do Dirceu, Teresina

»Matadouro« (Slaughterhouse)

European premiere / Artist Talk: April 8th, after the performance

“Matadouro” concludes the trilogy by Marcelo Evelin/Demolition Inc. He began the series with the piece “Sertão” (Netherlands 2003), followed by “Bull Dancing” (Brazil 2006; shown 2009 at move berlim). For the trilogy’s concept, Marcelo Evelin adapted parts of the novel “War in the Sertão” by Euclides da Cunha: the countryside in “Sertão”, the people in “Bull Dancing” and the battle in “Matadouro”.

Euclides da Cunha investigated as a journalist the struggle for the city of Canudos and made it the subject of his novel. At the end of the 19th century, poor and formerly enslaved black men and women established a place without injustice, a just community in Canudos. In territorial conflicts with the clergy, media and major landowners however, the men and women of Canudos were accused of being enemies of the republic and were finally, despite vehement resistance, massacred. Da Cunha traveled in the company of government troops, but the events caused him to increasingly identify with the ideals of Canudos. Thus one of the most important books about Brazil’s identity was written.

Evelin’s work addresses questions raised in connection with repressed territorial and cultural identities and with the clash of rationality and animality in the lives of contemporary mankind.

“Matadouro” defines the body as a metaphor for the battlefield of the struggle between the establishment and marginality, between barbarity and civilization, between territories and the globalized world. The human body is thus thrown into a subjective, indirect space “in between”. Neither here nor there, it oscillates between carrying on and giving up. Life is precarious existence. A life that is “killable” in the body. A life that, destitute, resists and acts.

“Matadouro” is performed by eight dancers, who embody the extremes of battle in ceaseless movement. They are accompanied by the string quintet in C-major by Franz Schubert.

Marcelo Evelin/Demolition Inc + Núcleo do Dirceu: Alexandre Santos, Andrez Lean Ghizze, Cipó Alvarenga, Fábio Crazy da Silva, Fagão, Izabelle Frota, Jaap Lindijer, Jacob Alves, Josh S., Layane Holanda, Marcelo Evelin, Regina Veloso, Sérgio Caddah, Silvia Soter
Marcelo Evelin is a choreographer, scholar and performer. From 1986 to 2006, he mainly worked and lived in Europe and has since moved back to Brazil, where he now mainly active in dance and theatre. In his work, he collaborates with professionals in a wide range of different languages, from various nationalities and backgrounds in various projects, which include music, video and installations. He has a residency at Hetveem Theater in Amsterdam with his company Demolition Inc. He also teaches improvisation and composition at the Art Academy of Amsterdam, where he initiates his own projects as well as supports the creative projects of his students. He directs workshops and collaborative projects in various European countries, as well as in the USA, Africa and since 2006 in his home Brazil and other South-American countries. He now also works as a manager and curator and has founded and coordinated an association of independent artists, as well as a platform for research and the development of contemporary performance: Núcleo do Dirceu in Teresina/Piauí. His last two pieces “Bull Dancing“ (2006) and “MONO“ (2008) were performed in Brazil and abroad. In November 2010, he premiered the last part of the trilogy “Matadouro” at the Panorama Festival de Dança/RJ and performed at the Mostra SESC de Artes/SP and in the Galpão do Dirceu/PI.