Performance by Luísa Saraiva

“Agora Baixou o Sol ‒ Now the Sun Sets” is the name of a traditional song from northwestern Portugal that used to be sung at the end of the working day - a long since forgotten tradition, in which working hours were ended with song and gestures as a kind of sunset liturgy.

Luísa Saraiva takes the song as a starting point for exploring states of vulnerability in her vocal choreography “Agora Baixou o Sol ‒ Now the Sun Sets”. In this way, she combines the physicality of call and response songs, interjections, and imitative sounds with social and folk dance forms. In her solo performance, which premieres in Radialsystem, the choreographer and dancer explores the relationship between loss, time and age - and the possibilities for regeneration and community through dance as a means of belonging, resistance, and joy.

“Agora Baixou o Sol” is a work located at the intersection between dance, sound composition and concert. It is the final part of Luísa Saraiva’s choreographic-compositional trilogy, based on Portuguese folk music and oral tradition. (“Tirana”, 2022; “Bocarra”, 2024, und “Agora Baixou o Sol”, 2026).

Additional information

A project by Luísa Saraiva in co-production with Pact Zollverein and Teatro Municipal do Porto, supported by NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ - STEPPING OUT, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR Dance aid programme. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion of the State of Berlin, the Kunststiftung NRW, and the Portuguese Republic - Culture / Direcção-Geral das Artes. With the support of Schloss Mentin, CAMPUS PCS, and CRL - Central Electrica.

Media partnerships Radialsystem: The Berliner, Rausgegangen, taz. die tageszeitung and tip Berlin.

Participating artists

Luísa Saraiva (Choreografie und Tanz)

Francisco Antão (Sounddesign)

Leticia Skrycky (Lichtdesign)

Ska (Lichttechnik)

Connor Scott (Choreographische Assistenz und Recherche)

Bibi Dória (Dramaturgy)

Isabelle Lange (Kostüm)

Inês Tartaruga Água (Instrumente)

Nadine Freisleben (Produktionsmanagement)

João Ferreira (Szenografie)

John Cussans, Lendl Barcelos und Arnaldo Saraiva (Dank an)