Paulo Ribeiro

They said he could not do it, that it was too late and his body was not right for movement. He responded by developing a path that has its origin in memory and the continuous redoing of the movement. Paulo Ribeiro, one of Portugal’s most important choreographers, reacted to criticism with choreographies that deconstructed the Portuguese “fado“ with tense humour and a craft rooted in daily life and the environment.

With works that are staged throughout Europe (“Sábado 2” and “Rumor de Deuses,” for example) and commissions from companies as diverse as Nederlands Dans Theater II, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and CCN–Nevers-Bourgogne, he made his mark on the New Portuguese Dance movement (a term created by critics to defend national dance at the beginning of the 1990‘s), while distancing himself from it at the same time. His small, nervous movements became a trademark, recognizable in all his choreographies, even when he does not participate as a performer. These works deal with the urgency and anxiety of turning the body into an instrument in order to reach deep into the intimate sphere of a performer. This need to know more drove him away from Lisbon, and turned him into the ...