Anthem / Umbó / Cartas do Brasil (São Paulo Dance Company)

In the organizer's words:

Dance guest performance by the São Paulo Dance Company and Tanz Köln

The São Paulo Dance Company, a regular guest in Cologne, is characterized by the diversity of its repertoire and the dynamism of its dancers. They are passionate and energetic. They switch effortlessly between classical and contemporary dance. Now they are in Cologne with three pieces by choreographers whose works can be seen here for the first time.

"Anthem" by Goyo Montero is a reflection on the process of constructing and deconstructing collective identities. The music of Owen Belton is inspired by songs that become hymns.

"Umbó" by Leilane Teles starts from the premise she calls "the creation of desire" and is about the desire to become the one you want to be because of a certain reference, and how this reverberates in everyone's body.

"Cartas do Brasil" by Juliano Nuñes is inspired by his own childhood memories, moving in the universe of birds and forests. In the dance, the dancers' hands, arms and heads vibrate, evoking images of birds' wings, of leaves in the wind, of the waving of birds' heads.

Goyo Montero from Spain, trained at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid and at the School of the Cuban National Ballet, has been awarded the Prix de Lausanne as a dancer, among others. He dances as first soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Oper Leipzig and at the Royal Ballet Flanders. He has been ballet director of the Staatstheater Nuremberg Ballet since the 2008.09 season and house choreographer of Acosta Danza since 2019.

Leilane Teles from Brazil is trained at the FUNCEB dance school in Bahia. She has a residency at the Venice Biennale and works for video productions as well as director, singer and actress for various musicals.

Juliano Nuñes, from Rio de Janeiro, studies at the Dance Academy of the University of Performing Arts in Mannheim. He dances at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Theater Hagen, the Gauthier Dance Company, the Leipzig Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders, among others. He choreographs for the Nederlands Dans Theater and is choreographer-in-residence of the Philadelphia Ballet.