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Marlene Monteiro Freitas with Andreas Merk: Jaguar. 31.05.2017, HAU 2, Berlin.

Animalism, burlesque, puppets, robots, tennis outfits, swimming goggles; three stairs leading to nowhere, the blue horse recalling Der Blauer Reiter; vigorous contractions of the (whining or working out) body: sports culture vs. the Tragedia.

It almost feels like that there is never a direct connection of themes in Marlene Monteiro Freitas’ works: what does the dance movements dragged from the carnival festivities of Cape Verde have to do with Der Blauer Reiter or say, Stravinsky with David Bowie? However, indirect connections build an eclectic architecture: a simple towel helps to suck the sweat of the dancers in tennis outfits as well as to defeat the unseen fly; it cleans the horse, metamorphoses into a penis of a female body and turns the performers into a non-existent creature. Reminiscent of of ivory and flesh – statues also suffer (2014) facial muscles are as crucial as the core; the gape open mouth painted with red is, say, the protagonist. The time is (ab)used with an utmost concentration; after a while, the length of the piece pulls you into an indescribable entity and even creates a tension because of the upcoming end.