Lectures and Talks, HAU 3: April 16, 7 pm – 10 pm
Cultural Roots in Brazilian Dance:
Identification or Transgression?
Introduction:
Overview of the Activities of the Ministry for Identity and Cultural Diversity of the Government of BrazilSérgio Mamberti (Rio de Janeiro/Brasília) – Secretary of State for Identity and Cultural Diversity at the Ministry for the Culture of Brazil and one of Brazil’s most respected theater, film and television actors
presentation: Dr. Cláudio Cajaiba
How do Capoeira or the ritual indigenous dances of the Asuriní influence the dance of today? How can boundaries be drawn between the male and female sex in the vicinity of contemporary dance? - Introduction: Sérgio Mamberti, State Secretary in the Brazilian Ministry of Culture
Dance of the Brazils: The Asuriní Women of Xingu:
Dr. Regina Müller (Campinas) - Anthropologist, postgraduate
degree from the Department of Performance Studies /New York
University, doctorate in anthropology at the USP, lecturer
at UNICAMP. Author of the book »Os Asuriní do
Xingu: história e arte« (The History and Art of
the Asuriní of Xingu).
The video “As mulheres das cócoras” (Women in Squatting Positions),
by Graziela Rodrigues and Regina P. Müller, which I will present as the
starting point of my talk, portrays a physical universe embodying the contrasting
experiences of the past and present of the Asuriní of Xingu. The Asuriní are
an indigenous group, who first came into contact with the white population in
1971. In contrast to formalized models, this research project tries to directly
translate creation in dance by using the same physical means that the actor uses
in confrontation with the other. In this particular case, the contact of the
Asuriní of Xingu, an Indian society in the midst of change, with the whites
generated ambivalent experiences of identification and alienation: the body in
a temporality-spatiality of origin that in its moment of transition, formed by
the image of the white man, ties itself completely to the earth.
»Today I Will Change«: Transformism and Choreo-ethnografic Display in Salvador:
Dr. Fernando Passos (Salvador) – doctorate in Performance
Studies and Scenic Arts at the New York University and the
UFBA. MA in Dance from the Tisch School of the Arts. From 2000-2002
guest professor at the Florida International University. Professor
at the Department for Choreographic Theory and Design at the
Escola de Dança and the Postgraduate Program Scenic
Arts at the UFBA. Main fields of research: Performance Studies,
Queer Theory and Postcolonial Studies.
The present talk examines the presence of men, who dress as women in public spaces
in Salvador: transvestitism as a method to deconstruct gender polarities. The
ethnographic essay includes thoughts on auto-ethnography and evolution to dissolve
the so-called marginal scenic displays and reassess the scenic arts in Brazil
in a re-evaluation of perspectives and themes. As a phenomenon, the personification
of the feminine is featured for example in the contemporary dance piece “A
mulher Gorila” (The Gorilla Woman) by the Salvador group Dimenti and strengthens
the transgressive sexual reconfiguration that is putting some traditional choreographic
forms in Brazil in question.
Capoeira in Scenic Composition:
Dr. Eusébio Lobo (Capoeira-Mestre Pavão) (Campinas) – dancer,
scholar and lecturer at the Unicamp Art Institute. From 1977
to 1980 lecturer at the Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville,
Illinois, USA. Master of Katherine Dunham Technique. Research
focus: Usage of Capoeira in the Training of Dancers and Actors.
It is currently assumed that elements of Capoeira, an original expression of
Brazilian culture, have fused with basic elements of dance. Both styles are of
special interest to anyone studying the use of the body in scenic composition.
The study of Capoeira syntax in relation to the recognition and sensitization
of movement is the central aspect of this lecture. The space of the body, the
body in space and its surroundings are the thematic focuses of this study.