Terra Cobre | João Pais Filipe e Marco da Silva Ferreira

The first time I saw João Pais Filipe live was in the Novo Negócio, in a duo with Pedro Melo Alves, on June 15, 2021.

This concert is, to this day (and I believe it will remain so), on my list of the best concerts I have seen. I commented at the time to whoever was with me that I didn’t know what to write other than: “impactful, memorable and that made me sit there, hours on end, watching and listening to the two, in that perfect, harmonious and disruptive dialogue whenever it was necessary”.

Later, in July of that year, I interviewed João Pais Filipe for Covidarte and promised that I would still write about that concert. I didn’t, the timing passed, but what I felt at that concert is still very present in me.

Last September 30th I repeated the experience. This time I went to Estufa Fria to watch the performance Terra Cobre, by musician and sculptor João Pais Filipe and choreographer and dancer Marco da Silva Ferreira, as part of the BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts program.

It was supposed to start at 7pm, but it started 37 minutes later (an issue duly explained to the public, which shows respect for those who were there). Nobody gave up. The kindness of those who were managing the moment helped, the Estufa Fria space invites us to enjoy the space and those who were there knew that waiting to see the performance would be worth it.

Terra Cobre begins with an arm that moves, a rattle that is the extension of Marco da Silva Ferreira’s body (who from now on will just be Marco). The body is used as a percutive medium. We have strength in the dancer and subtlety in the musician. I’m sitting down absorbing the world, traditions, changes, adaptations. And it started less than 2 or 3 minutes ago.

João Pais Filipe’s (hereinafter João) percussions are perfect, with no room for error. Technique, creativity, focus, sensitivity are words that define João’s work.

I look at Marco, the rhythm, the body at the service of the will. Possession and exorcism, the antithesis between the ground floor and the ancestor. A trance that passes into our body.

Unexpectedly, a song from Marco echoes. Scenically, the voice and bodies gain another presence, there is no percussion during the singing.

The gong enters and we leave the ground floor and let ourselves be guided to the more transcendent side. Repetitive, hypnotic, pulsating. Marco returns and takes me on a trip to Caretos. I return to the traditional, I let the story get confused, change perceptions and the rattles end up hanging and silenced in the final moment.

Seeing Terra Cobre is being part of the experience that unfolds between the village and the world, between the body and the sounds. Once again João Pais Filipe does not disappoint, and Marco da Silva Ferreira is on my radar as an artist to follow.

Take a look at the Boca 2023 agenda with the program running until October 15, 2023.