Foto: EIRA

Emerging Still is a contemporary dance piece that explores the relationship between the body, space and matter. Through movement, the two performers constantly transform the space they share: one gesture prompts another, one movement alters the surroundings, and each body affects how the other moves and is perceived. As the stage landscape changes, colours and materials introduce new tensions. Between the desire to intervene in the world and a fascination with forms, surfaces and appearances, Emerging Still inhabits this duality without seeking a definitive answer.

This new creation by Francisco Camacho is part of the international collaboration programme and stems from his collaboration with Japanese choreographer and performer Kotomi Nishiwaki, who joins the Portuguese choreographer to co-create a piece, following in the footsteps of Meg Stuart and Magnum Soares.

Francisco Camacho is a founding member and artistic director of Eira. He is internationally recognised as one of the leading figures in the contemporary dance movement that emerged in Portugal in the late 1980s. He has performed across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, presenting works that have become landmarks in Portuguese dance history, including the solos O Rei no Exílio and Nossa Senhora das Flores, and the group pieces Dom São Sebastião and Gust. He has received the Bordalo Award.

Kotomi Nishiwaki (Japan) is a performer, dancer, choreographer and actress. She began her dance training in Zurich and later continued her studies at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, while also pursuing butoh training with various masters. As a freelance performer, she has worked with leading artists. Her career has taken her to major European venues and festivals, including Volksbühne (Berlin), Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Kaaitheater (Brussels), Pact Zollverein (Essen) and the Steirischer Herbst Festival (Graz), among others.

Francisco Rolo is a Portuguese performer with professional training in dance. His stage practice is particularly focused on projects that invite him to take an active, creative and collaborative role. He also explores different artistic disciplines, including dance, theatre and the intersections between them, performance practices in unconventional spaces, and audiovisual projects.

Direction, co-creation and performance: Francisco Camacho and Kotomi Nishiwaki
Co-creation and performance: Francisco Rolo
Music and sound design: Miquel Casaponsa
Lighting design, set design and technical direction: Frank Laubenheimer
Costume and set design: Marisa Escaleira, Liliana Santos
Production management: Lucinda Gomes
Executive production: Sofia Freitas
Communications: Rodolfo Freitas
Production: EIRA
Collaboration: Park Keito
Co-production: Festival Citemor
Support: Consulate General in Barcelona, Instituto Camões I.P.
Support for the artistic residency: Olga Roriz Company, Pólo das Gaivotas/CML, Forum Dança, Rumo do Fumo, Luís António Verney Primary and Secondary School.

EIRA is an organisation funded by the Portuguese Republic — Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts — and supported by Lisbon City Council.

Dedicated to the memory of Abraham Hurtado (1972–2024).