GUERRILLA is the new creation of Brazilian choreographer Renan Martins, where he wishes to use dance as a channel through which marginalised artists can be brought back to life and, at the most, celebrated.

He wants to investigate on the possibility of using dance as a medium, a download tool of forgotten information, and more specifically to celebrate the work of Queer and Black composer Julius Eastman, by using his emblematic work “Femenine” (1974). In this new creation, Renan Martins experiments with softness and tenderness as metaphorical roads that lead to self-transformation and political change. He attempts to create a space where dance is allowed to happen without the need for virtuosity and the spectacle.

Much like in his late pieces, footwork comes back to support the generation of material, as he develops a combination of both his and the performers’ ancestral archive of dances to build a journey in conversation with Eastman’s work . Much like in the musical piece, Renan creates ‘GUERRILLA’ as a repetitive system that does not exhaust itself, but that opens, ever so gradually, internal and emotional spaces, making it a constant morphing landscape that intends to reach the audience gently yet profoundly.

During Renan's residency at La Caldera he will bring together all the performers for the first time. For this reason, he expects to dedicate a significant amount of studio time to the project. This residency is going to be crucial for the project as Renan is going to materialize all of his choreographic ideas to date, following research residencies in Porto.

In doing so, during their time at La Caldera, Renan and the team aim to establish a clear direction for GUERRILLA's final result. Additionally, they anticipate having an exchange in the format of a workshop and/or masterclass to share some content of the piece with the audience. This not only provides an opportunity for feedback but also prepares the audience for future viewings.