(2008)
Teatro de Marionetas is the Portuguese expression for Puppet Theater. In this work, two puppets, represented by the two tubas, meet for a set of three dances. The first dance named Murmurinho meaning small and soft talk is inspired by “choro” rhythms. The woodblock introduces the two puppets and so the dance begins…however, they are puppets! And, even if they try to dance together they will always seem ‘disarticulated’. The second dance, an Interlude, represents the two puppets falling in love with each other. It is a romance: they sing songs of longing to each. This movement is inspired in morna song genre. Finally, the third movement, Tangos, represents an attempt of the two tubas to dance a tango. But they cannot keep up with each other! And so, we have many Tangos happening at the same time at different tempos. The two puppets finally come to an agreement…at the very last measure. The idea for this piece arose when virtuoso tuba player Sérgio Carolino commissioned this work. I had seen a photo of him that reported his appearance and collaboration with a Puppet Theater in our native country of Portugal. The picture only had a tuba and a puppet and caused quite an impact. When Sérgio Carolino described the idea behind his collaboration with tuba player Anne Jelle Visser, I knew immediately that I had to ‘experiment’ with two puppets!