This November 30th opens the natural ice rink that will work until January 12th. In Praça de D. João I, the rink opens at 10 am. On the bank holiday of December 1st, the rink will have free access during the morning until 1 pm.

Galeria Municipal do Porto opens the exhibition "9kg de Oxigénio". The exhibition is the result from the challenge launched by Galeria Municipal do Porto to the project "Uma Certa Falta de Coerência" to develop an exercise that reflects on the relationship between independent curatorial practice, self-managed by artists, and an institutional exhibition context. In this sense, "Uma Certa Falta de Coerência", which has been developing its work independently since 2008, will present this exhibition in which it will "test the production policies and ways of understanding, taking as its starting point the exercise of survival under conditions adverse and subject to institutional oppression". "Uma Certa Falta de Coerência" will transfer the atmosphere of the small space it occupies on Rua dos Caldeireiros, where air breathability is often questioned, and will feature works by artists who, over the past few years, have collaborated with the project: Babi Badalov, Daniel Barroca, António Bolota, Camilo Castelo Branco, Merlin Carpenter, Rolando Castellón, June Crespo, Luisa Cunha, Stephan Dillemuth, Loretta Fahrenholz, Pedro G. Romero, Dan Graham, Alisa Heil, Mike Kelley, Ruchama Noorda, Silvestre Pestana, Josephine Pryde and Xoan Torres.

Galeria Municipal do Porto opens the exhibition "Depois do Estouro", curated by Tomás Abreu and results from the "Expo'98 no Porto" competition project. "Depois do Estouro" was selected by an independent jury of the Galeria Municipal do Porto’s artistic team, composed by Daniela Marinho, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Miguel Ferrão, who directs with Eduardo Guerra the artistic project Musa paradisiaca, and Nuno Faria, artistic director of Museu da Cidade. This exposition arises from the effects that the socioeconomic and technological developments by the end of the last century had on contemporary culture and "proposes a reflection on paradoxes of their consequences, while challenging notions of time manipulation". It brings together a set of works, produced at the end of the last decade by 13 young artists who grew up in Portugal in the 1990s, which "focus on issues of humanity, physical space and time": Alice dos Reis, Francisco M. Gomes, Henrique Pavão, Hugo de Almeida Pinho, Igor Jesus, Jorge Jácome, Lucia Prancha, Mariana Rocha, Mariana Vilanova, Pedro Huet, Rodrigo Gomes, Sara Graça and Tomás Abreu.

The exhibition marks the 30 years of the Foundation and the 20th anniversary of Museu de Serralves, presenting the programme of the Performing Arts Service between 1999 and today. It was born and developed through compromises between seemingly irreconcilable objectives: on the one hand, the need to present concrete data (names, dates, images) that showed where, how and when certain artists performed, and mirrored the pioneering character of the importance given to the performing arts by Serralves; on the other hand, it translates what seems to immediately distinguish these arts: the implication of the spectator, the eminently collaborative spirit, the "here and now" as opposed to "this was". The compromises included by putting on display documentation and letting its visitors know who has performed in Serralves (and when, how and where), while presenting elements that evoked the “here and now.” The documentation was incorporated through a process of collaboration: once the programmers Cristina Grande and Pedro Rocha selected the images and words that best illustrated the last twenty years of their programming (between stage photography and graphic materials that announced and accompanied the activities), it was commissioned to a graphic designer, Luís Teixeira, to create a book that would never be published, whose pages would be exclusively presented on the walls of Biblioteca de Serralves, along with the recordings of shows and props to which these programmers considered to be of special importance. At the same time, it was decided to occupy a considerable area of the library’s mezzanine with an object that would immediately evoke the idea of theatre and could "trigger" the viewer: a small stage waiting to be occupied. The visitor can and should sit down to read (programming texts, key books to understand the performing arts today) and, most importantly, to hear testimonials and memories of spectacles written by people especially attentive to Serralves' performing arts programming - between artists, musicians, writers and current or former directors and programmers of theatres and music and performance festivals - and then read by two actors. These testimonies came to reconcile the irreconcilable: the memories of certain shows, or of concerts and performances - necessarily subjective, incomplete, fragmentary - constitute the necessary counterpoint to data, dates, chronologies, documentation. It is largely thanks to them that this exhibition is not just about "what it was"; it is also now, and it is also here.

A series of attractions and amusements will liven up the place until January 12th. Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque, popularly known as "Rotunda da Boavista", again this Christmas becomes the “Praça da Fantasia” (Fantasy Square)! All the kids, as well as grown-ups, are invited to have fun in the various attractions that will be installed on-site between November 30th and January 12th. In addition to a covered ice-skating rink and a snow slide, there will be merry-go-rounds, bumper car tracks, a magic train, simulators, traditional games, a mini Ferris wheel and even a Santa Claus’ House. On the bank holiday of December 1st, the rink will have free access during the morning until 1pm.

January 10th at 9:30 pm at Igreja Stella Maris: - Coro Carmelitas Stella Maris – The Host - Orfeão da Foz do Douro - Academia de Danças e Cantares do Norte de Portugal - Coro da UCP - Grupo das Janeiras da Paróquia de Aldoar - Grupo Danças e Cantares São Martinho de Aldoar January 11th, at 5:30 pm, at Auditório de Cristo Rei: - Coro de Cristo Rei - Orfeão da Foz do Douro - Coro São João da Foz - Escuteiros Agrupamento 484

The Remix Ensemble begins the Year of France with three generations of composers and a great pianist from that country. One of the greatest figures of the twentieth century, Olivier Messiaen composed several ground-breaking works exploring musical material derived from birdsongs. In Les Oiseaux Exotiques, he brings together American and Asian birdsongs. The pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is a reference soloist of this favourite piece of the general public and with it inaugurates his artistic residency at Casa da Música. This concert opens the retrospective of Philippe Manoury's work, one of today's most important French composers, but the programme's latest work belongs to Christophe Bertrand, a composer who was destined to become a lasting reference of contemporary French music but who died in 2010, at the age of 29.

Twice a year, Teatro Municipal de Porto welcomes Companhia Nacional de Bailado, were it not for the Rivoli’s Grand Auditorium where it was presented the first show in 1977, even before its official debut at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. Companhia Nacional de Bailado-CNB comes to Porto, sometimes with contemporary creations, as was the case with the revivals and original composition choreographer by Tânia Carvalho, in the 2018 season, sometimes with a classic and modern repertoire, in a patrimonial logic and constantly updated, core missions of this company. The programme now shown is a triple bill, three short pieces by Hans van Manen. The Dutch choreographer is known for the strong structure and refined simplicity of his compositions. From melancholy based on Beethoven's romanticism in “Adagio Hammerklavier”; the elasticity for Jacob Ter Veldhuis's avant-garde score in “Short Cut”; to the satirical chromatism of “In the Future”; CNB's virtuosos dancers bring to us in their bodies this relevant choreographer in dance history. "Adagio Hammerklavier" is recognized worldwide as one of the twentieth century classic masterpieces. This is a piece for three pairs of dancers, choreographed on Beethoven 's piano sonata, no. 29, opus 106. It is regarded as Hans van Manen's most lyrical and academic ballet and reflects a lucid and analytical view of the emotional oscillations that occur in ordinary life. Throughout the piece, feelings alternate between passion and unrequited desire, attraction and revulsion. Created in 1999, “Short Cut” is a piece for four dancers. Hans van Manen is inspired by Jacob Ter Veldhuis's score and takes advantage of the tone, rhythm and poetry of this work. The choreography follows the rhythm of the music, the basis of this dance which, focusing on the pas de deux, reveals its extraordinary elasticity. Originally choreographed for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in 1986, “In The Future” is an energetic, entertaining and surprising piece created for twelve dancers featuring David Byrne's music and Keso Dekker's costumes.

We are familiar with the irreverence of João Garcia Miguel's stage creations. There are, for instance, his bold treatments of Shakespeare in Burgher King Lear (2007) or Calderón de la Barca in La Vida Es Sonho (2015). Now, he returns with A Plan of the Labyrinth, adapting a text written by Francisco Luís Parreira (in what is already the fourth joint creation by their “close and durable relationship”), to whom the reverberation of the historical situations or the old texts he chooses acts as a revelation of what we are today – he is responsible for an amazing Portuguese translation of the Babylonian poem The Epic by Gilgamesh, one of the oldest texts in the world. After Lilith, which looked at the crisis in Greece / Europe, Três Parábolas de Possessão, filled with biblical references and the Israeli-Arab conflict, and a free version of Medea, Um Plano do Labirinto is a polyphonic mythological tale about the twentieth century Portuguese diaspora, in the Orient and in Africa, questioning itself/us about the truth and lies of many collected stories in “our” war “overseas”. One of them, quite remarkable in its "indifference to the truth," tells of an immaterial confrontation between soldiers in patrol and a herd of antelopes in the unexplored savannah. “Why do these stories lie so deliberately?”

The return to one of the most fascinating countries in the history of music takes us on a journey through various ages, from the Middle Ages to the present time. In addition to the in-house ensembles of Casa da Música, will be on stage special international guests such as pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, conductors Sofi Jeannin and Hervé Niquet, and tenor Cyrille Dubois, as well as the National Choir of Spain. The programmes include remarkable works such as Berlioz's Te Deum and Messiaen's Les Oiseaux Exotiques, among many others by important figures such as Debussy, Ravel, Charpentier and Boulez. Do not miss the beginning of Philippe Manoury’s residency with the first three of several works that will be premiered in Portugal throughout the year. The Education Service presents a new performance inspired by the French writer Jules Verne that will entertain the whole family. Also keep checking for the special programming that will be announced in due course for this opening programme of the Year of France, which spans various music genres.

There are phenomena whose success is undeniable. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in 97 minutes are an example of this and have led many families to the theatre, who admit to having more than "97 laughs" throughout the show. With adaptation and direction by António Pires, humour and topicality are characteristics of the play, with various references to trivial and “digital” themes of Portuguese daily life, along with the (re)acknowledgement of 37 works by one of the greatest playwrights in world history, William Shakespeare. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in 97 minutes “travels” through the tragedies, comedies, historical plays and sonnets by the most famous and influential English playwright, proving that “To be or not to be” is not a question when it comes to the phenomenon that this show is since its premiere in 1996!