© Rapenburg Plaza

Fado – The International Dancetheatre

  • Opening night: march 3 – 2014, DeLaMar Theatre, Amsterdam
  • Choreography: Vasco Wellenkamp
  • Lighting design: Pelle Herfst – Rapenburg Plaza
  • Costume Design: Ben Voorhaar – Karisma Costumes
  • Photography: Robert Benschop

FADO is a co-production of Internationaal Danstheater and Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporneo (CPBC) from Lisbon, Portugal. The dancers of ID and the dancers of CPCB, together with choreographer Vasco Wellenkamp, have taken the roots of fado music as the starting point for an emotional approach to this powerful music.

Fado’s themes give expression to the whims of fate and human passions. Traditionally, the lyrics are about the peculiarities of life’s uncertainties, separation, grief, love, faith, a cry for freedom and wanting to fly away. Choreographer Vasco Wellenkamp sees fado as an imaginary projection in a timeless ritual, without specific characters. To him the actual emotions and the dramatic power that touch us are important.

FADO would not be complete without the live music of Portuguese fado singer Carla Pires and her guitar players. In 2012, she mesmerised audiences with her beautiful voice in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and she also performed in large theatres and at music festivals in Spain, France and Turkey. In 2014, Carla Pires and her guitar players can be admired and heard in theatres all over the Netherlands in FADO.