More than 380 artists will fulfil their part of the Imaginarius “Dream” with performances on the 12 stages of this edition, 35 shows/interventions, totalling, during the four days of the festival – from 25 to 28 May –, 100 hours of programming. It is in the union between the artists and the public, who often change roles, in the sharing of experiences, and in the construction of memories that the Imaginarius Dream is complete.
The 22nd edition of Imaginarius – International Street Theatre Festival of Santa Maria da Feira follows the Dream, with connections to the most varied artistic currents and lines of thought, and its ability to bring multicultural, multidisciplinary artistic expressions to the public space and a very particular reverie to which this festival has already accustomed its audiences.
All Imaginarius programming is centred on enchantment and fantasy. The main Imaginarius features six Portuguese and international artistic proposals: Aigua, by the Spanish company Xa! Teatre; Cristal Palace, by the French company Transe Express; La Grande Phrase, by the French company Didier Théron; Italy’s Teatro Per Caso bring World of Wonder; the joy of live music is brought by Al-Fanfare, from the Algarve. The world-renowned artist, Pep Bou, accompanied by Martin Cattani, takes us on a fascinating journey into the world of soap bubbles with Bulle à Bulle, on the stage of the António Lamoso Cine-Theatre.
Criações Imaginarius creations enhance our programming content and provide a platform to artists and companies of recognized quality. Six creations from various artistic disciplines will have their world premiere in the public space of Santa Maria da Feira. INAC presents a creation that will make us gaze at the sky and verify the crossing of lines produced by funambulism. Ponto de Partida is a proposal that creates a link between this circus technique, Kandinsky’s painting and twelve-tone musical composition.
Slovenia’s Danijela Zajc was the winner of Mais Imaginarius 2022 and, therefore, in this edition she will be performing her Imaginarius creation Perspective’s Gravity. Inês de Carvalho and the Tu Parles Trop Company present a co-production that, based on a literary work, creates an entrance and journey into a magical world, using a language that criss-crosses illusion and magic, circus and dreams.
Kefalé, by the Teatro em Caixa company; Pescadores da Lua, which brings us the wonderful world of clowns, through Seistopeia; Os Colecionadores de Sonhos, by Ponto Produções; and Sons do Fijô, a project that at first may seem disconnected from the scope of the festival, uniting the four philharmonic bands of Santa Maria da Feira in a contemporary register, complete Criações Imaginarius.
Imaginarius Infantil is section that is gaining more and more space at the Santa Maria da Feira festival. The privileged location where everything happens is Rossio. There, we can find the soap bubbles from the Bufa i Rebufa show, by Companhia Enlaire; the stage of Spain’s Jam, a mad hatter; make a stop to see Potted, a show by the Trócola company; we accompany the hybrid and bizarre vehicle of Teatro C’Art, with their creation Woow; and we will still have to find time to get to know the circus of dreams or Roda Viva by Inês de Carvalho and Cie Tu Parles Trop.
Mais Imaginarius is a section of the festival that challenges emerging artists from around the world to promote contemporary, multidisciplinary and innovative artistic projects in the public space. There are 16 artistic proposals competing on different stages: A Body and Other Objets, by Ana Jordão (PT), All Strings Attached, by Anna Krazy (EE), Bien Joué, by Compañia Fermin Morá (AR), Tentación Divina, by Compañia Maiclown (AR), Input – Seu Corpo, Seu Clic, by Alex Lima (BR/PT), Do Nada, by Sophia Polyakova (PT), Lighthouse – Light Art Installation, by Fierce-Art (PT), Metarmofose, by Gustavo Silvestre (BR), Parranda, by Manshula Circo (AR), Round a Round, by Franxi Natra Clowna (DE), Sin Creacion, by La Popi (AR/DE), Smile, by Rita Spider (PT), Strade Poetiche, Poetic Roads, by the Rusty Brass Band (IT), Talchè, by the Davide Fontana company (FR), Totemtango, by Teatro Bislacco (IT) e Vecinos, Vuelta e Media (ES)
The jury will award a prize to the best artistic project, which will have the possibility of developing a new creation to be presented during the 2024 edition of Imaginarius. The public is also invited to vote on the Imaginarius website for the most interesting proposal, for the Public Choice award.
All Imaginarius shows have free access.
22nd edition of Imaginarius – International Street Theatre Festival:
» 4 days of programming;
» 383 artists;
» 10 countries: Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, France, Italy, Portugal;
» 37 companies| artists;
» 35 performances/interventions;
» 4 artistic residencies;
» 7 Imaginarius Creations;
» 3 public art installations;
» 3 workshops;
» 100 hours of programming content;
» free access.
It is in Santa Maria da Feira that the dream happens. From 25 to 28 May, dream with us!
