Ana Clara Guerra Marques

Ana Clara Guerra Marques (born November 2, 1962 in Luanda , Portuguese West Africa ) is an Angolan dancer, choreographer and pioneer of African contemporary dance .

Life

Youth and education

Marques was born on November 2, 1962 in the capital of the Portuguese colony Angola, Luanda, and grew up in an artistic and intellectual environment. Her parents were friends with numerous intellectuals in the capital, including the sculptor José Rodrigues is said to have been a regular guest in the house. In 1970, at the age of eight, Marques began taking ballet lessons at the Luanda Dance School.

In the course of Angola's independence in 1975, most of the teachers, mostly white Portuguese, left the country, so that the dance school remained practically without staff. Since Marques had completed the first level of dance teacher training in 1978, she was asked if, as a 15-year-old, she would not like to take over the management of the school. Marques accepted the offer and was the director of the only remaining dance school in Angola. She ran the school until 1999.

In retrospect, decades later, Marques said that the time after independence had been very difficult, as not only ballet (and the dance taught in general) was perceived as something European, colonial, but her white skin color had also met with rejection.

Foundation of the Companhia de Dança Contemporânea de Angola

At the end of 1987, Marques left Angola to study dance and pedagogy in Portugal at the Escola Superior de Dança in Lisbon . She completed her studies in 1990 and then returned to Angola in 1991. There she founded Angola's first professional dance ensemble for contemporary dance, the Companhia de Dança Contemporânea de Angola (CDCA). The dancers of the CDCA received professional training, mostly in Europe or the USA.

Marques began writing numerous plays with well-known Angolan writers, artists and sculptors. Shortly after it was founded, the ensemble began numerous tours. The first appearance in Europe took place as part of the 1992 World Exhibition in Seville , after the Angolan minister of culture had asked for an appearance to represent the country. This was followed by tours of African countries.

After the ensemble ceased its activities in 1999, Marques returned to Portugal in early 2000 to do a master's degree in spatial anthropology at the Institute for Social and Humanities at the Universidade Nova in Lisbon. She then returned, and in 2009 she revived the ensemble. In 2017, Marques completed his doctorate on the dance of the Chokwe ethnic group in northeastern Angola.

In addition to her work with the CDCA, Marques is a member of the UNESCO International Dance Council . She also lectures at the Agostinho Neto University in Luanda and advises the Angolan Ministry of Culture.

Artistic work

Ana Clara Guerra Marques is one of the most famous dancers and choreographers in the country and also a pioneer of contemporary dance in Angola. In particular, their interpretation of traditional Angolan dances and folklore and their connection with modern dance are considered remarkable. As part of her research, she is said to have examined, researched and applied the folklore of the Chokwe , an ethnic group in northeastern Angola, to dance.

In addition to their interpretation of Angolan traditions, their choreographies are also considered a criticism of the social grievances of the country and the political system. She herself defines dance not only as a passive activity, but as an important tool of intervention.

Marques documented her work of contemporary dance in three books: A Alquimia da Dança (1999), A Companhia de Dança Contemporânea de Angola (2003) and Para uma História da Dança em Angola - Entre a Escola ea Companhia: Um Percurso Pedagógico (2008 / 09).

She received various honors for her work: In 1995 the Angolan Association of Artists and Composers UNAC awarded her the Prémio Identidade . In 2006 she received the Diploma de Honra from the Angolan Ministry of Culture .

Works

Published books

1999: A Alquimia da Dança
2003: A Companhia de Dança Contemporânea de Angola
2008/09: Para uma História da Dança em Angola - Entre a Escola ea Companhia: Um Percurso Pedagógico

2017: Máscaras Cokwe - A Linguagem Coreográfica de Mwana Phwo e Cihongo

Pieces

1991: A propósito de Lueji
1992: Mea culpa
1993: Imagem & movimento
1994: Palmas, por favor!
1996: Neste país
1997: Uma frase qualquer ... e outras (frases)
1998: Agora not there! 'tou a bumbar ...
1999: Os quadros do verso vetusto
2009: Peças para uma sombra iniciada e outros rituais mais ou menos
2011: O Homem que chorava sumo de Tomates
2014: Solos para um Dó Maior

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Inge Mariëtte Ruigrok: Marques, Ana Clara Guerra . In: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . tape 4 . Oxford Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 , pp. 115 f .
↑ ^a ^b Margaret Nangacovie: A professora da dança Angolana. In: VOA Português. Voice of America, January 23, 2011, accessed January 19, 2019 (Portuguese).

personal data
SURNAME	Marques, Ana Clara Guerra
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Angolan dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH	November 2nd, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH	Luanda , Portuguese West Africa

[DictionaryofAfricanBiography-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Inge Mariëtte Ruigrok: Marques, Ana Clara Guerra . In: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . tape 4 . Oxford Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 , pp. 115 f .

[:0-2] Margaret Nangacovie: A professora da dança Angolana. In: VOA Português. Voice of America, January 23, 2011, accessed January 19, 2019 (Portuguese).