Marco da Silva Ferreira was nominated for his work Bodywhich was awarded in 2023 with the award for Best Choreography awarded by the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA).
Premiering in 2022 in Porto, the production is described as an attempt to explore Portuguese identity through the intersection of folk dance and contemporary street dance and disco.
Marco Ferreira da Silva was born in 1986 in Santa Maria da Feira and graduated in physiotherapy, but did not practice this profession, giving priority to the performing arts. In 2010 he won the television contest “Achas que Sabe Dançar”.
As a performer he worked with André Mesquita, Hofesh Shechter, Sylvia Rijmer, Tiago Guedes, Victor Hugo Pontes, Paulo Ribeiro, David Marques, among others.
In addition to Marco da Silva Ferreira, the other finalists for the Award in the Pink category, for renowned choreographers, are the Brazilian Lia Rodrigues, the North American Kyle Abraham and the Greek Christos Papadopoulos.
Marco da Silva Ferreira, from street improvisation to contemporary creation: “I never know if I dance for pleasure or pain”
In the Bloom category, open to emerging choreographers with a maximum of ten years of experience, the Israeli Stav Struz Boutros, the French Leïla Ka and the Taiwanese Wang Yeu-Kwn were selected as finalists.
All finalists will perform their nominated choreography at Saddler’s Wells Theater between January 29 and February 8, 2025, culminating in the winners’ announcement on February 10.
The winner of the Rose category will receive 40 thousand pounds (47 thousand euros at the current exchange rate) and the winner of the Bloom category will receive 15 thousand pounds (18 thousand euros).
The award, which will be held every two years, was made possible thanks to the contribution of a patron, who remains anonymous but chose the name Rose, Saddler’s Wells artistic director Alistair Spalding said on Monday.
The financial donation guarantees the celebration of this award for 10 editions, about which Spalding stated that he wants to “do for dance what the Turner Prize did for the visual arts or the Booker Prize did for literature.”
In addition to a jury whose composition will be known in October, the public will also be able to designate their favorites through electronic voting.
The finalists were chosen by a group of six people after an initial nomination of 14 international professional choreographers who were candidates for the award with shows released between October 2021 and February 2023.
Spalding highlighted this Monday that the list of finalists reflects the internationality of the professionals involved and also “the diversity of dance as an art.”
Source: Observadora
