The Materiais Diversos Festival promotes the meeting of different audiences and imaginaries around the arts (dance, theatre, music and performance) with thought, questioning actuality and fostering cultural participation as a condition for citizenship. Born in Minde, in 2009, it spread to Alcanena and Cartaxo (in 2013) and became one of the most representative projects for programming outside the large centres in Portugal, attempting to think and act from the places it originates. It had been occurring annually until 2017 and became a biannual event starting with its 10th edition in 2019.
From the 3rd to the 12th of October 2025, the Festival Materiais Diversos will be in Alcanena and Minde with a program of dance, theater and music shows, installations and conversations.
What does the dance say? is a cycle that aims to broaden the perception of what dance is and demystify the idea that contemporary dance is not for everyone. From a set of three very different creations, the cycle unfolds into shows, conversations and workshops and proposes different approaches and experiences.
The cycle’s name refers to the possibility of dance being a language and reveals one of the characteristics of contemporary dance — a terrain where each artist potentially constitutes his or her unique poetics. At the same time, it implies the potential of dance as a discourse, not only poetic, but also political, and the importance of bodies, gestures and movement in the construction of imaginaries and in the production of readings about the world(s).
SubLinhar, by Marta Cerqueira, is a show for children and families that articulates dance, sound, illusionism and drawing and presents dance as a language in itself. Dream is the Dreamer, by Catarina Miranda, refers to a mysterious post-human universe, freed from known logics, and suggests to the spectators a choreographic, visual and sound immersion. Choreography, by João dos Santos Martins, proposes a conversation between dance and text, not knowing where one and the other begins and ends, based on research based on Portuguese Sign Language.
Marta Cerqueira
25 January (Thursday) | 3:00 pm | Cine-Teatro Alcobaça
27 January (Thursday) | 10:30 and 14:00 | Cine-Teatro Paraíso, Tomar
13 May (Friday) | 10:00 and 14:30 | Teatro Miguel Franco, Leiria
Find out more about this project HERE.
João dos Santos Martins
4 March (Friday) | 9.30 pm | Teatro José Lúcio da Silva, Leiria
22 April (Friday) | 9.30 pm | Cine-Teatro Alcobaça
Find out more about this project HERE.
Catarina Miranda
7 May (Saturday) | 9.30 pm | Teatro Miguel Franco, Leiria
20 May (Friday) | 9.30 pm | Cine-Teatro Paraíso, Tomar
Diversos