A Minha História da Dança
My Dance History

Gil Mendo

Espaço da Penha, Lisbon PT, November 30, 2017

Subtitled in English

Archive

Biography

Born in Oeiras (1946-2022), Gil Mendo studied dance at the Center for Ballet Studies of “Instituto de Alta Cultura” (High Culture Institute) between 1966 and 1972, and graduated in Choreology from the Benesh Institute of Choreology (London, 1972/1975). 

He was a professor at the Dance School of the National Conservatory (1976/86), a member of the Installing Committee of Escola Superior de Dança (Higher School of Dance) from 1983 to 1989, where he later was Coordinating Professor (1986/2014). In 1990 he was one of the founders of Forum Dança. 

He actively participated in the IETM – Informal European Theatre Meeting network since 1990, having been a member of its Executive Committee from 1991 to 1993.

He was a consultant for Dance at Comissariado Europalia 91-Portugal from 1990 to 1991, and a consultant for Dance at Fundação das Descobertas/Centro Cultural de Belém from 1993 to 1995.

He belonged to the Installing Committee of Portuguese Institute of Performing Arts – Ministry of Culture, between 1996 and 1998, and was Coordinator of its Dance Department from 1998 to 2001.

In 1999, he was a founding member of Fonds Roberto Cimetta.

He was the Dance Programmer at Culturgest, from 2004 to 2018 .

About

“All of us, dancers, choreographers or performers, receive somehow, through different means, more academic or more self-taught, an idea of the History of Dance, or the History of the Performing Arts, from which we feel we ‘descend’ (and perhaps we feel we descend from several Histories at the same time!). There were certainly choreographic or scenic creators that made us understand the art we make the way we understand it today. Each one has a specific idea of how this History unfolded, and for each one there are certain artists and certain artistic movements that helped shaping the idea of dance that one has and practices and that, somehow, is answering to that History. These lectures will give us the opportunity to know the History of Dance, that each person has created within her/himself.”

Vera Mantero

 

The lecture cycle My Dance History is a project develloped since 2011 by Forum Dança and O Rumo do Fumo. This project, initially implemented in Lisbon, has also been presented in Viseu, Funchal and Barcelona, in partnership with: Teatro Viriato, Dançando com a Diferença and La Poderosa. The cycle has been hosted by: Edifício (LX Factory), Espaço da Penha, Rede de Bibliotecas de Lisboa and Estúdios Victor Córdon/OPART.

Forum Dança and O Rumo do Fumo are financed by the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Direcção-Geral das Artes. This project is supported by Câmara Municipal de Lisboa / Direcção Municipal da Cultura / Divisão da Rede de Bibliotecas. Website co-financed by Garantir Cultura, Compete 2020, Portugal 2020 and European Union through European Regional Development Fund - ERDF.

Project summary

Agenda

2023

Ligia Lewis
27 April, 6:30pm
Palácio Galveias Library

Margarida Bettencourt
2 November, 6:30pm
Camões Library

Contact

Forum Dança

Webpage: forumdanca.pt

E-mail: forumdanca[at]forumdanca.pt

Phone: +351 213 428 985

 

O Rumo Do Fumo

Webpage: orumodofumo.com

E-mail: info[at]orumodofumo.com

Phone: +351 213 431 646

 

Address: Espaço da Penha, Travessa do Calado 26-B, 1170-070 Lisbon, Portugal

Forum Dança

Forum Dança is a non-profit cultural association, created in 1990, whose mission is to promote contemporary dance, through professional and artistic training, research, editing and documentation. It is a meeting platform for professionals and the public. It develops pedagogical projects, seminars, artistic residencies, informal presentations, workshops and regular classes aimed at professional audiences and amateurs, adults and young people.

Forum Dança is a structure recognized as a structure of public utility since 1998. Forum Dança is an independent structure funded by Portuguese Ministry of Culture / Directorate General for the Arts, the Lisbon City Council and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Forum Dança is one of the founding structures and is an associated member of REDE – Association of Structures for Contemporary Dance.

www.forumdanca.pt

O Rumo do Fumo

Founded in 1999 by Vera Mantero and supported since then by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, O Rumo do Fumo is a creation, production, national and international tour managing, research, teaching and programming structure in the field of contemporary dance, which positions itself in an experimental and research artistic territory. Territory that also extends the field of dance and its horizons, characterized by the transversality of the artistic disciplines and where dance, music, theater, literature/poetry, visual arts and cinema intersect.

Since 2000, O Rumo do Fumo has been responsible for the production of works by several artists with the aim of creating the necessary means for development and consolidation of their careers, providing a greater continuity of their works and facilitating opportunities for national and international touring.

Between 2000 and 2002, O Rumo do Fumo supported 10 artists, namely André Guedes, João Samões, Margarida Mestre, Mário Afonso, Miguel Pereira, Paula Castro, Paulo Henrique, Rafael Alvarez, Teresa Prima and Vera Mantero. Since 2002, the accumulation of work, exacerbated by the increase of Vera Mantero’s and Miguel Pereira’s activities, led to the decrease of supported artists, and since 2004 the support was focused on four artists (André Guedes, João Samões, Miguel Pereira and Vera Mantero), allowing to define a more efficient strategy of production, promotion and touring of their works. Since 2008, O Rumo do Fumo started to support punctual projects by young artists, either by supporting the executive production, as in the case of Rita Natálio, Matthieu Ehrlacher and Pablo Fidalgo, or through various support programs for emerging artists. Currently, represents the associate artists Miguel Pereira and Vera Mantero, the supported artists Elizabete Francisca, Henrique Furtado Vieira and Nuno Lucas, and other artists through its emerging artists’ programmes.

In September 2008 O Rumo do Fumo and Forum Dança joined forces to create the EDIFÍCIO at LX Factory, in Lisbon, since then and for the first time the structure has its own studio. This project represented a new collaboration format within the Portuguese dance community, enhancer of new work dynamics, and hosted 102 creation and research projects, organised informal presentations, lectures, seminars, workshops, publication launches and several other events. The synergy created between these two production structures has been consolidated over time, updating strengths and skills with a new work space since 2014: the Espaço da Penha. This space has several studios, as well as spaces for other artistic structures, promoting a cluster that builds and advances together in a new and consistent work hub.

During its years of activity, O Rumo do Fumo has built a solid national and international network of contacts and partners (institutions, theaters and festivals) in four continents, with whom the structure maintains regular activity through the projects by its artists. This network allowed to produce a total of 115 new creations and 315 events (workshops, lectures, meetings, informal presentations, etc), showing 1169 performances, 515 in Portuguese cities and 654 in foreign cities.

Since 2003 O Rumo do Fumo is a co-founding member of REDE – Association for Contemporary Dance, in Portugal.

www.orumodofumo.com
Biblioteca Palácio Galveias, Lisbon PT, May 19 2022
MACBA - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Barcelona ES, November 13, 2021
Biblioteca Camões, Lisbon PT, March 5, 2020