HAU 3, April 24th, 3:00 – 5:00 pm

The Legacies of Dance:
The One and the Many in Belo Horizonte and Recife

Moderator: Wagner Carvalho

On the basis of the dance teacher Klauss Vianna’s experiences in the city of Belo Horizonte concepts of deconstruction and reconstruction of the body will be discussed. The experience of diversity in the RecorDança archive in Recife demands a critical interpretation of dance history. However, the development of dance history in one location becomes visible in both experiences.

t3Klauss Vianna’s Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the Dancing Subject.

Arnaldo Alvarenga (Belo Horizonte) is a professor of performing arts at the Art School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais where he coordinates the department of movement education for dance. He studied Educational Science at the FAE and is the vice-coordinator of the work group Dance Research in Brazil: Investigations and Processes of the State Research Association – ABRACE. He is a scholar in the Research Group Educational History (GEPHE) and the Program for Oral History (PHO) at the Federal University Minas Gerais. Awards as a dancer, choreographer and stage author; 2006 Klauss-Vianna-Prize of the Ministry of Culture 2006.

The lecture focuses on dance and especially the pedagogic work of the choreographer and dance teacher Klauss Vianna. In this context the most important aspects of his approach to teaching are de-structuring and reconstructing the dancing body. In contrast to the concept of a formal codification according to which the body of the performer is created, Vianna inspired his students to find their own movements and to let their personality flow into their dance. Thus all interpreters – whether professional or amateur – become creators and search for self-knowledge and reflection. They enter into a process in which attention, memory and awareness work together in a very personal form of dance.

Documentary film: Klauss Vianna – Movimento Expressivo.
Directors: Sergio Roizenblit, Inês Bogéa

t1A Plan for Dance in Recife.

Roberta Ramos (Recife) received her PhD in Literature from the Federal University of Pernambuco UFPE. She is coordinator of the RecorDança archive, co-worker of the Movimento Dança Recife association and on the editorial board of Idança. She is the author of the dissertation „Deslocamentos Armoriais: da afirmação épica do popular na “Nação Castanha” de Ariano Suassuna ao corpo-história do Grupo Grial“ (Emblematic Shifts: On the Epic Integration of the Popular in “Nação Castanha” by Ariano Suassuna and the Physical History of the Grupo Grial Ensemble”).

The RecorDança archive was founded in 2003. For the research that was planned, an archive was needed with systematically organized and easily accessible information on productions from the decades relevant to the study (1970 – 2000). At the time the creation of a simple data bank was appropriate. Later the information system was expanded and made more specific (www.fundaj.gov.br/recordanca). The goal was also to enable new and specific perspectives on the dance history of the city of Recife and to make detailed information on the research subjects available. Today data is still integrated cartographically and entered into the archive’s information system. Beyond the basic collection of data the research is directed towards a critical interpretation of Recife’s dance history. The data in the online archive is an open cartography, the way Deleuze and Guattari suggested it should be: shifting, reversible and constantly changeable.