Feature: Portuguese choreographer pushing boundaries of dance

Portugal's Quorum Ballet dance company has performed in over 40 cities around the world and later this year will be creating and presenting a new piece in Beijing, China, in collaboration with Chinese entities.

"We increasingly have more projects abroad," Quorum Ballet's choreographer artistic director Daniel Cardoso told Xinhua on Wednesday. "I think internationalization makes sense because dance is a universal language," Cardoso said. "It is intuitive to me that dance is something global and not local."

He says a highlight for Quorum this year will be going to Beijing where his company will be working on a co-production with Chinese entities.

The piece, called "The Rite of Spring: Made in China" will be starring seven dancers from Quorum Ballet and seven of China's most renowned Chinese dancers, with guest choreographer Xie Xin.

This year Quorum has performed in Germany, Switzerland and will soon be embarking to the United States before flying to China in December.

Cardoso studied at the National Conservatory of Dance in Lisbon, and took scholarships at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

He has worked with a number of international choreographers throughout his career including Martha Graham, Robert Wilson, Maurice Bejart, Itzik Galili, and Milton Meyers.

He formed the Quorum Ballet dance company in the summer of 2005, as well as the Quorum Academy.

Cardoso is not only internationalizing the country's dance scene, but also pushing the boundaries of classical and contemporary dance, as reflected in his latest piece "From Classic to Contemporary which he took to Lisbon's Cineteatro D. Joao V last weekend.

The piece, which started off with excerpts of Swan Lake interpreted by renowned ballet dancers Carlos Pinillos and Filipa Castro from the Portuguese Companhia Nacional do Bailado, had guest ballet dancers Maria Selestskaja and Teun Van Roosmalen from the Royal Ballet of Flanders perform too. This was followed by a powerful performance by contemporary Quorum dancers in "A modern perspective" about complex relationships.

"There is a struggle in Portugal for public interest in dance," Cardoso said. "So this kind of piece (mixing contemporary and classical) attracts a broad spectrum of individuals. It was about creating a balance and also attracting people to a relatively new theatre." Endit