Challenging tradition: Marlene Monteiro Freitas, choreographer and Evens Arts Prize 2021 laureate

Marlene Monteiro Freitas is a daring and experimental choreographer and dancer, who creates singular and compelling choreographic worlds that draw audiences in with a dazzling interplay of bodies, energies and effects. Often merging genres, myths and allegories, her works deftly undermine implicit power structures, reimagining traditions not as fixed absolutes, but as fluid encounters between subjectivities. She was awarded the Evens Arts Prize in 2021 by an international jury, consisting of the heads of some of Europe’s leading arts institutions and festivals. Find out more about the Evens Arts Prize: Full transcript: My name is Marlene Monteiro Freitas, and I am a contemporary dancer and choreographer. My grandfather was a musician. My mother always sang and played traditional music at home. People always said she was the best on the dance floor. For many occasions, music was present and singing or playing, and dance. It was always present. From an early age I practiced rhythmic gymnastics and I enjoyed choosing music and helping choreographing the sequences. And then later I correlated a dance group with friends. In the beginning it was about having fun and then – step by step – it became more and more serious. So we got together, we rehearsed and we performed. And the first time I saw a contemporary dance piece, I felt that I could possibly do that in life. Sometimes I say that choreography is the last step of a digestive process. You choose the nutrition, you select, you eat, you chew, you mix, it goes through the process and at the end you expel something that is a matter that has its own texture, consistency, smell, it’s own nature that is beyond the process. It is an honour to be awarded with this prize. Prizes are always a moment of celebration within the team. It helps renewing trust, desire, joy. It’s not only a recognition, but it’s a real support to the work that one is able to allocate to a project. So it’s recognition, support, freedom. So we are very happy and very honoured to receive the prize.