Plural Inclusive Dance Company

Plural, open stages for plural bodies.

Plural is a dance company formed in 1995 by House of the Arts of Fundação LIGA, an NGO based in Lisbon, Portugal. It promotes the research, training and creation of dance projects crossing boundaries between contemporary and inclusive dance.

Plural aims to generate a platform of dialogue, interaction and artistic collaboration between dance professionals, dance students and non-professionals – disabled and non-disabled artists, that together share and create dance visions that stand out for diversity, autonomy and citizenship. Questioning our ‘unique’ and yet ‘plural’ bodies. Finding innovative ways to collaborate and develop new choreographic methodologies where diversity is the core material.

Plural’s productions are devised by the company dancers and collaborators (university dance students, recent dance graduates, invited choreographers, etc.) working as an ensemble, openly sharing skills and knowledge through performance, professional training and community outreach.

Diver Cidade

Duration: 80 minutes, including 15 minute interval

Description: Diver Cidade (Diver City) is the latest Plural stage creation, resulting from an artistic collaboration between three recent graduated choreographers from the Lisbon Dance High School (Escola Superior de Dança) and the dancers of Plural.

The triple bill programme presents: a duet – 'Dois rapazes e um som' (Two boys and a sound) choreographed by Filipe Pereira; a trio – 'Illudo in Vitro' choreographed by Joana Fernandes; and a quintet - 'Patchwork' choreographed by João Pereira.

The starting point of this programme has been exploring the theme of mobility, access and diversity on the space of the city. Proposing different choreographic visions about the city and about urbanity and its poetics. As an active pole of dialogues and encounters where different identities meet together. Crossing the individual and the collective. The public and the private. The center and the periphery. The local and the global.

Diver Cidade was premiered in December 2013 at Auditório Camões in Lisbon and it was developed with the financial support of INR – Instituto Nacional de Reabilitação.

Extra information: This triple bill program can also be presented separately in the tree different pieces: a duet, a trio and a quintet.

People on road: 11

Freight: none

Prêt-À-Porter

Duration: 60 minutes

Description: Prêt-À-Porter is a metaphor about the multiple ways the body is re-presented and re-shaped in everyday life. This 'new-old' body, an exclusive ready to wear/ready to undress model, covered by multiple layered skins that, to each season, dictate us the tendencies of how to be, how to act and how to think. Under the logic of a fake normality and balance. Running after the impossible task of the ultimate state of the art – perfection.

One day we are in, and another day we are out (of fashion). Our body (different from every other) is copied, doubled, repeated. In every color and shape. Rebooted and upgraded to a better version of ourselves. Flawless. Mirroring everybody and yet human and unique.

Prêt-À-Porter proposes to re-think in a playful way the codes of fashion and the place of the body on our ‘modern society’, undermined by a subversive and ironic perspective over the fashion and beauty industry. At the same time it explores the strong visual power and appeal that fashion and clothes can bring to the construction of our identities and self narratives.

People on road: 11

Freight: baggage

Plural runs inclusive dance workshops for special and mainstream schools, as well as for local communities. These activities are a way to demonstrate and share that dance is accessible to everyone, promoting active citizenship, social cohesion and diversity in arts.

Plural also delivers workshops and training activities direct to the dance community for dance students and dance professionals.

Workshops can vary in length from one day to one week, or be developed in special long term projects.