Bate Fado

Bate Fado is a hybrid performance, between dance and music concert, conceived for four dancers, a fado singer and four musicians. Like most urban musical movements, such as samba or flamenco, fado also had its own dances. In Lisbon, the dance that expressed itself the most was the fado batido, a dance inspired by an energetic and virtuoso tap dance. In Bate Fado, Jonas Lopes and Patrick Lander aim to reinterpret and reclaim the act of dancing (tapping) Fado, where dance emanates the quality ́é of a percussion instrument in dialogue with voice and guitars. Bate Fado reveals itself as the first step in reclaiming the dance that Fado has lost.

Bate Fado, the rescue of a lost dance
Since 2011, Fado, the Portuguese multicultural synthesis of Afro-Brazilian songs, has been considered an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, but the dance associated with it, Fado batido (“beat/dance Fado”), sadly died out at the dawn of the 20th century. Outlawed because its erotic and provocative nature challenged the morals of the Fascist regime (1933-1974), it was practiced by the poorest sections of Lisbon society. Jonas and Lander reactivate it today, in the form of a danced concert. This tap dance, combined with sensual, provocative poses, awakens an awareness of the past that is rescued from the enforced oblivion into which it has been plunged. The performers stamp their feet to recall the figures of the past of this dance that has faded before the voice alone. The idea is to give dance back to Fado, to give it back its steps. The piece is a veritable research laboratory on this cultural heritage, designed for four male and female dancers, four musicians and a singer.