Taking inspiration from the visual and conceptual universe of artist Christian Boltanski, this performance pays tribute to the record and to small history.

“Rumor” [Rumour] is
part of a series of choreographies that Joana Providência has been creating at Teatro do Bolhão and whose references are works by contemporary visual artists. This piece is based on the work of painter, sculptor, photographer and film director Boltanski. Its presence, however, is not merely a formal choice for the performance: death, forgetfulness, childhood and memory are the driving forces behind it. Rooted in biography, both real and fictional, the creative universe can be envisaged as a journey through memory and identity. The search for the ‘small history’ within History is at stake: in what way are family memories and little records a living breath of the History written in books? How does an intimate experience reflect a given context, and in what way does the memory of such experience endure? “Rumor” also seeks to find a living reflection of the social and political setting of a dictatorship in the records and accounts of Portuguese political prisoners. — Joana Providência

12YRS+