A Solo Until We Can Dance Again (2021) is a new commission for Portals by Brendan Fernandes. At the crossroads of the social and political repercussions of the pandemic, the work deals with the human need for communication, contact and intimacy.

Fernandes’ Solo regenerates the courtyard area of the former Public Tobacco Factory. Scaffolding and ballet barres surround three elevated pedestals. For the duration of the exhibition visitors will be able to access these platforms/dance-floors and write their answers to the question: ‘Imagine/Without Fear/What Is Tomorrow?’ on them. Through these inscriptions, the pedestals will become memorials – places to leave behind trauma, struggle and difficulty.

At scheduled times, a dancer will activate the platforms with an improvisational choreography based on the public responses. They will read and incorporate a selection of the texts into a solo dance. In this way, the dancer will embody a ‘living monument’. They will transmit the ideas and experiences left by the public until the day comes when we can all celebrate and dance together again without worry or fear.

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Brendan Fernandes
A Solo Until We Can Dance Again, 2021
20 min performances throughout the run of the exhibition
Installation: Precast concrete slabs, painted steel structures, painted wood, pvc flooring
Installation Design: Fanis Kafantaris, Nikolas Arnis – ΝΕΟΝ Architecture & Design Department
Production: Efi Syrigou, Antonis Kourkoulos, Ioanna Mimi – NEON Exhibition Department
Assistant Curator: Maria Tavlariou
Graphic Design: Dimitra Chrona-Schema
Costume Design: Eleftheria Arapoglou – DIGITARIA
Costume Design Assistant: Afroditi Anastopoulou
Project Associate-Coordination: Pavlina Andriopoulou