Hà Mais
“Here’s to all that’s still to discover and everything we won’t ever get the chance to know”. The piece Há Mais (There’s more) was created in 2002 by Thomas Hauert with 5 dancers from Maputo as a part of the project “Alma Txina”. “Alma Txina” is an initiative of Danças na Cidade, part of the long-term exchange and training programme ‘Dançar o que é Nosso’ initiated in 1998.
Hà Mais (There’s more) is the result of an encounter between traditional Mozambican dance and contemporary dance from an occidental context. Extraordinarly virtuosic, the dancers with whom Thomas Hauert worked are masters of numerous local traditional dances, which most often consist of the incessant repetition of a single choreographic motif. Thomas and his five performers selected twelve traditional dances from which they isolated the basic motif. Each of the dancers combined these different loops in an original sequence, a choreographic phrase that is seen transforming throughout the performance by a play on temporality, rhythm, spatial relationships, and movement qualities. Leaving significant space for structured improvisation as well as a complex approach to the space, Hà Mais juxtaposes African dance motifs with short musical pieces by Igor Stravinsky.
Choreography Thomas Hauert
Dancers Benedito Cossa, Idio Chichava, Sonia Mulapha, Horacio Macuacua, Domingos Bié
Music Igor Stravinsky
Sound Filipe Mondlane
Light Quito Tembe
Costumes Lucia and Edmundo
Executive Production Panaibra Gabriel and Jasper Walgrave
Special thanks to Carlitos and Riina Saastamoinen
The Project Alma Txina is an initiative of Danças na Cidade and CulturArte, integrated in the long-term exchange program Dançar o que é Nosso
Coproduction ZOO/Thomas Hauert / Africalia and Départs, in partnership with the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano
Support Flemish Government, European Union-Cultura 2000, SDC-Cooperaçao Suiça, Goethe Institut, Pro Helvetia, Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, Ministério de Cultura-Gabinete de Relaçoes Internacionais, Instituto Camoes-Centro Cultural portugues Maputo, IEFP, CCN de Franche-Comté à Belfort
Thanks to Companhia Nacional de Canto e Dança, Moçambique, Escola Nacional de Dança, Maputo
