‘A person who carries music within them, all music... A conductor... always a person of good, a leader of good causes, the epicentre of a total movement, the example of the perfect society; all in concert for a general happiness. A man or woman, alone, facing the void that can become the sublime; in which the greatness of individual feeling is in direct proportion to its communication.

A conductor does not conduct alone; he or she is permeable to the proposals of the musicians, suggesting, receiving and opposing. Faithful custodians of a higher work entrusted to them, conductors negotiate their capacity for transcendence each and every second. This is where their path crosses with dance and those that perform it.

The conductor's mission is to guide the flows of life, because these are made of music. Rarely have individual and collective issues been so closely linked, especially for purposes that are so universally uplifting. The exemplary political dimension is undeniable: a leader who does good, always good, always in favour of a common cause! An individual facing a collective and vice versa. With different missions, all working towards the same goal.

This is how I created this encounter between a conductor and a dance troupe. The body, the bodies, are those of twenty performers, male and female, who rigorously execute scores based on the composer Shostakovich for a profusion of different, but complicit, musical registers. Twenty conductors for various imaginary orchestras, with a single score. This is the beginning of the choreography that moves from chef d'orchestre to corps d'orchestre.

Men and women who are, in their totality, in their tonalities, their own instrument!

It is with deep gratitude that I dedicate this work to Jorge Salavisa, always present in the practice of constructive friendship. A master of discovering, motivating and building talent, capable of bringing out the best in each of us at all times.’

Paulo Ribeiro