Romeu Runa and Miguel Moreira are emblematic artists of the contemporary Portuguese stage. Faced with the penury of the resources allocated to live performance, they show a stubbornness and an energy that permeates their works, not hesitating to rehearse outdoors, in nature, if they cannot find a studio. Born in 1973, Miguel Moreira is above all a director, but he has also developed his very physical approach to the stage in the fields of dance, cinema and music. An approach that lays claim to a strong engagement from his interpreters, as well as all his collaborators, with whom he composes a total show in which acting, choreography, sound and light converge to express an idea or a sensation. In 1997, he founded the Utero company and a few years later, met a dancer from the Ballet Gulbenkian, Romeu Runa, with whom he began a long complicit collaboration. Romeu Runa, whose gentle and animal presence perfectly resonates with Miguel Moreira’s aesthetics, concurrently works with many Portuguese choreographers. Alain Platelspotted this singular dancer some time ago and asked him to join Les ballets C de la B for Pity!, then Out of Context – for Pina, presented at the 2010 Festival d’Avignon. A producer as well as a creator, he was invited to give the two Portuguese artists the means to deepen their work on The Old King, and is accompanying them today at the Festival d’Avignon, to provide an exterior view on this creation.
RB, April 2012
Web site Festival Avignon
Fotografia Helena Gonçalves