The Pharos Trust is proud to present a contemporary dance performance by Brazilian dancer / choreographer Jean Abreu and his company in the context of the Brazilian Culture Month.

Jean Abreu

Andrej Petrovic

Eleonore MacDonald

Brazilian-born Jean Abreu is one of Britain’s rising dance talents. Having trained at Laban, he is now based in London and has an established network of support extending internationally, including the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil.

Jean brings his personal skills in contemporary, Latin American and martial art forms to bear on his own unique choreographic style: possessing feline grace, a sense of immense but contained power and a razor sharp physical deftness as a performer; as a choreographer, he is insightful and human. His work has generosity, charisma and openness, and his ability to deal sensitively and eloquently with modern day human concerns and experiences results in it being immediately appealing and captivating.

Jean Abreu was awarded the Jerwood Award in 2003. The next year, after successfully premiering O Lungo Drom at The Place Resolution!, Jean was appointed an Associate Artist at The Place for two years (2004-2006).

As part of the Brazilian Culture Month Jean Abreu presents his works Urge, Fijis and O Lungo Drom with company dancers Andrej Petrovic and Eleonore MacDonald.
 

O Lungo Drom Choreographer/Dancer: Jean Abreu

 This solo work by the Jerwood Award winner, Jean Abreu is inspired by ideas of migration. 'To be everywhere and nowhere' is a sentiment that lies at the heart of globalization and modern life. In this piece, Abreu takes us on a personal journey of identity and migration.  Lungo Drom (Romany for “The Long Road”) expresses a physical and internal journey in the quest for identity and sense of belonging in a world that is on the move. Jean’s movement language is drawn from his roots in Latin dance combined with elements of Capoeira and Contemporary dance.
 

Urge Choreographer: Jean Abreu, Dancers: Jean Abreu & Andrej Petrovic

Urge is a duet that explores the nature of urges and how they define us. In contrast with the rational mind, urges draw us to visceral needs and instinctual pulls. Nature dictates this form of compulsion, making us question who or what is really in charge. Our vulnerabilities become exposed as urges fight for control within us.
 

Fijis Choreographer: Jean Abreu, Dancers: Jean Abreu, Eleanor McDonald, Andrej Petrovic

Fijis is a trio inspired by the unique cultures and rituals of the Polynesian Islands which captures the experiences of sensuality, violence and shifting tension generated by the three performers.
 

Abreu excavates the collective unconscious to create an intense work that challenges western moral and cultural assumptions. The fluidity and overwhelming energy of Abreu's vivid movement language and unique choreographic style and hybridization of Latin and contemporary dance techniques are taken to new levels in Fijis.