The COVID pandemic has shown actress and theater director Patricia Moreira (Lisbon, 1990) that opportunity lurks behind adversity. In January 2020, not suspecting that a virus would completely change the world, she founded Tremor Theater, a cultural enterprise that gives life “Fire of fire” (Burning fire), a play that, through music, dance, ritual and movement, shows the importance of coffee in the life of Portuguese, Galicians and Brazilians in the second half of the 19th century.
The artist has been working on this work for some time and like any new project, will-o’-the-wisp was born with the idea of growing gradually from Portugal and finally crossing the border with Spain. But COVID and fate had other plans for this young actress and theater director’s “blazing fire”.
Two months after the launch of Tremor Teatro, the curtain falls, the theaters empty and the whole world experiences the greatest cultural blackout in history. Cultural industries and particularly the performing arts, where face-to-face presence is a hallmark of identity, have been severely affected.
It seemed that Patricia’s blazing fire would go out irremediably. Like so many other artists, she tried to survive as best she could in that black year for culture. In June 2020 you saw the call for Aid Fund for the Ibero-American Performing Arts (Iberescena)which included a line of support for the co-production of shows, and did not hesitate to present his project.
A year earlier, in 2019, his country became the latest member of Iberescena. With the entry of Portugal, the following year the door was opened for Portuguese artists to access aid.
“If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, I wouldn’t have taken the time to participate in the call for Iberescena”Confesses Patricia in an interview with Portal Somos Iberoamérica, recalling the moment when a decision changed everything.
Iberescene, a turning point
Paradoxically, it was precisely in that moment of the curtains being lowered and the soft lights that the flame went out “Fire of fire” (Burning Fire) has revived to cross the borders with Spain and the Atlantic with Brazil.
Winning the Iberescena tender allowed Patricia to internationalize a project initially intended only for Portugal and transform it into a co-production with Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian artists in the hands of the Galician company Theater of Soglia and the carioca Boccaccione.
“If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, I would not have participated in the call for Iberescena“.
“Iberescena opened me the possibility of building networks of relationships with artists from three countries and two continents. It was an important moment for a company born like mine “, tells the Portuguese artist in impeccable Spanish.
But how to put together a stage project with such movement and budget restrictions? You had to hone your wits and make use of technology. and so he did. Thanks to the fact that Iberescena facilitates the development of projects remotely, all the participation of the Brazilian company has been digital. “It was an immense challenge because the theatrical language is designed for face to face”, To explain.
“The pandemic has taught us that it is possible to create new artistic forms and work hand in hand with technology, combining face to face with the virtual”, The actress recalls reflecting that sometimes difficulties are not an obstacle, but a guide to change the path.
A tremor that trembles
In Portuguese, “Tremor” it means tremor, a tremor produced by a stimulus that draws from the ground to transport us into a spiritual experience. That thrill makes the mind and body travel towards a fiction that connects to a historical context and / or a reflection on the world, Patricia emphasizes when she explains the significance of her cultural enterprise, which she defines as “a structure of artistic creation” .
“Theater is the unifying core of a combination of different artistic expressions such as cinema, photography, dance, literature, history and music”. The actress starts from the fact that her project seeks to create a common network for different artistic disciplines such as photography, scenography, audiovisual production and thus promote job opportunities for a sector that has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic. .
But Tremor Teatro proposes not only the interaction between different artistic expressions, but also between the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America on the basis of the historical ties that unite Portugal, Spain and Latin American countries. “Through artistic work we want to nurture a historical and cultural awareness of the strong bonds that unite us“, he says.
women in culture
Patricia Moreira together with Iberescena’s technical secretary, Zaida Rico, at the headquarters of the Ibero-American General Secretariat in Madrid.
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In a sector characterized by great precariousness and competitiveness due to scarce economic support, women have even more difficulties, the artist remembers as an added difficulty when it comes to creating and setting up a show. “Directly and indirectly, there is gender discrimination and machismo in our profession.
There is discrimination and machismo in the cultural sector. An egalitarian society is also built on the basis of culture.
“Iberescena trusted me as a woman and a young artist who is just starting out. That’s why I can tell from personal experience how important it is to support women directors, actresses and artists, because an egalitarian society is also built on culture“.
For this reason, from the point of view of a young woman just starting out, cooperation at the governmental level and public-private alliances are essential for the renewal of the artistic fabric in Ibero-America, because they open spaces for new emerging talents in a spirit of collaboration and non-competition. .
“I don’t want to compete with my colleagues and colleagues, but rather work together with them. Be with them and not against them “. emphasizes.
The focus of Ibero-American cooperation programs such as Iberescena, Ibermedia or Ibermúsicas, which promote co-creation, is vital because “they allow us to learn from each other instead of competing fiercely for grants”. When you have financial support for an art project or facility, you work more freely to create together, he explains.
I don’t want to compete with my colleagues and colleagues, but rather work together with them. I want to be with them and not against them.
The Ibero-American authorities, he assures, must focus more decisively on culture as an instrument of social change, as a means of moving consciences.
“Culture can change the world because it helps transform ways of thinking. If only one person who attends my show reflects and changes his way of thinking, I have already changed a bit of the world “. For this, Patricia concludes “Investing in culture and in new talents means betting on the long term, on coexistence, on open societies, sowing peace now that it is so lacking”. At the end of an inspiring conversation with Portal Somos Iberoamérica, Patricia Moreira, the actress who turned adversity into opportunity, leaves this message.
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