The support structure for the Thaw performance, by the Australian company Legs on The Wall, which will present a unique eight-hour performance at Imaginarius – Festival of Performing Arts in Public Space, in Santa Maria da Feira, began to be installed on 29 April. Outside the Lóios Convent Museum, the container with the inverted pyramid-shaped steel mold is already in place. Over 20 days, it will receive approximately 2,500 liters of water, colorant and de-icing retardant, which will form the block of ice that will be suspended from a crane 40 meters high and will serve as a stage for three performers.
“For 20 days, this container holds a rare moment. Inside, water is worked until it becomes a solid, resistant, almost silent matter,” reads the descriptive text of the Thaw artistic creation, applied to one of the container’s sides.
On the morning of 4 May, a rigger from the company Legs on The Wall will oversee the first phase of filling the mold, which will give shape to the ice pyramid, in a phased freezing process, until the day of the performance’s premiere, 23 May.
Thaw calls for reflection on the irreversibility of global warming, and the message is conveyed assertively to those passing by the container: “While this ice gains consistency within a controlled space, outside the world’s ice is being lost at a rate we can no longer keep up with. What can be sustained here for moments is, outside this container, continuously and irreversibly giving way.”
The performance will last approximately eight hours, during which three performers will individually use the block of ice as a platform and stage to present three different approaches to the climate crisis, while the ice slowly melts in full view of everyone, calling for collective attention and responsibility and highlighting the real urgency of the situation.
Throughout the eight-hour event, there will be performances at a maximum height of 40 meters, while others will bring the performers closer to the public on the platform next to the steps of the main church.
“Thaw is a powerful image of the present we inhabit, a gesture of silent resistance that calls for collective responsibility and shared attention, reminding us that the future is not announced, it is already underway and there is no time to lose,” reinforces the festival’s artistic direction.
This is one of 39 proposals from Imaginarius – Festival of Performing Arts in Public Space, totaling 125 presentations of theatre, dance, music, folk art, circus, digital arts and performance, featuring 200 artists from 42 companies originating from 16 countries.
The extensive programme, which takes place between 21 and 23 May, also includes the Imaginarius Conference, which brings to Santa Maria da Feira the British essayist Charles Landry, known worldwide as the creator of the “Creative Cities” concept.
All activities in the festival programme are free of charge.
Full program available here.
