Artist statement
Hello, my name is Ricardo Machado, I am 38 years old. I am a regular choreographer and performer in multiple contemporary performing arts contexts. I usually integrate transdisciplinary research groups, within co-creation practices.
I started my professional career as a performer in 2006. Until today I have worked with many professional companies, such as Companhia Instável, Companhia Paulo Ribeiro, Companhia Olga Roriz, Circolando, Cie Karine Ponties (Belgium), and Hotel Europa, and with choreographers/independent directors such as Aldara Bizarro, Né Barros, Moncho Rodriguez, Victor Hugo Pontes, Rui Lopes Graça, Kurt Demey, Marielle Morales, Graeme Pulleyn, Anna Réti, Ido Batash, Madalena Victorino, Luiz Antunes, São Castro, António Cabrita, Roberto Olivan, among others.
Of these creators, I highlight the 12 creations I made with Companhia Circolando and the 8 creations I made with Madalena Victorino, a recognized Portuguese choreographer and a leading figure in the development of participatory art practices.
Over these years, I’ve been involved in more than 80 creations, whether as a performer, director/choreographer or director assistant.
In 2014, I started my work as a choreographer. “Como pedras fora do chão” (2014), co-created with Pedro Salvador; “REI-SOL” (2015); “Point of You” (2015), co-created with Anna Réti; “L’après-midi d’un sportif” (2016); “Ponto Ómega” (2016), co-created with Madalena Victorino; “MARKULUS” (2019); “TAKE A STAND” (2019), co-created with Clara Antunes; “NÓS DE VOZ” (2021), and “L’après-midi de deux sportifs” (2021) name the first proposals I signed. The work “Point of You” was selected, in 2016, by the Aerowaves platform as one of the twenty priority European works in dance.
The greatest drive of my artistic presence is the movement, and my creation field focuses in dance – both built for purely formal settings (theatres), and site specific contexts. My most steady matter of work stands in questioning the performing way of being, as well as in constantly assessing the audience’s role. My modus operandi is based in turning reality into fiction.
My international career started in 2009, when I moved to Brussels, where I lived for two years. I trained at Charleroi Danse and Danscentrum Jette, and throughout those two years I worked with some choreographers in Brussels. From 2010 to 2013 I worked with the Karine Ponties Company (Brussels), and from 2013 to 2014 I worked in Budapest with the choreographers Anna Réti and Ido Batash.
Since 2009, the work I do as a performer has been touring in many countries. My work as a choreographer has been presented in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia.