CriticalDance Forum

<P>Dance Brazil in "Black Anastácia"<P>photo: Lois Greenfield<BR> <P>Dance Brazil bring to NY the, '...45-minute "Black Anastácia," based on the blue-eyed beauty, now revered as a saint, who was an African tribal queen taken to Brazil as a slave in the 17th century. As a housekeeper on a sugar cane plantation, Anastácia taught her fellow slaves to worship their native African gods -- a strictly forbidden practice -- under the guise of Christianity.<P>Though the company calls "Black Anastácia" a ballet, there will be no pirouettes on point. Rather, the 12 dancers and 4 capoeiristas will perform as many styles of movement as there are interpretations of the story of Anastácia. In addition to capoeira -- the high-energy, acrobatic martial art disguised as dance for which DanceBrazil has been known since it was founded in 1977 -- there will be elements of samba, the national dance of Brazil, as well as North American-derived modern and jazz dance. All of this will be performed to an original score composed by the percussionist Cyro Baptista and the electronic sound engineer and musician Peter Scherer.' <P><BR>If you have not done so already, you will need to register (free) with the NY Times site first. This link will last for a week from the date of the posting.<P> <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/artleisure/dancebrazil.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/artleisure/dancebrazil.html</A> <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited May 21, 2000).]

I notice that Grupo Corpo are mentioned in their own thread somewhere else here, at the moment. Aren't they also from Brazil?

what a pyrotechnic event. i must see them perform. is there a list of performance dates

Dance Brazil was wonderful when in my town. Their interaction with the community was very enjoyable and rather extensive. It would be great to see "Black Anastacia" - what a tremendous story!

prisanh, how was dance brazil's interaction with the community enjoyable<P>are they different from other companies. do they have more classes. do they watch local companies<P>i am just wondering if brazilians do it differently from us dance companies

Hi Cronos. When here they taught many classes to all kinds of groups - students of all ages and from all over town. One large class was held at the University's gym, and I just couldn't believe how many people were there. <BR>It wasn't a class where you were going to get personal attention, but encouragement and a wonderfully fun atmosphere were easily found. Community fun happened. I hope no one got hurt though, since instruction was mostly shown, not verbally described much. <BR>I watched a company rehearsal, and some friends wound up going to Brazil to study capoeira - the group was here for some time, and had the chance to make quite an impression.<BR>Oh - forgot to say I didn't hear of their seeing any local companies. There aren't many, and though they saw local dancers, it was because we went to the DB classes. <BR><p>[This message has been edited by Prisanh (edited July 07, 2000).]

A review from Cleveland:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Sizzling moves of Brazilian 'body group’</B><P>Wilma Salisbury, Cleveland Plain Dealer<P>Grupo Corpo heated up the State Theatre in Playhouse Square Friday night with a dynamic new style that blends the African, European and Latin American cultural heritage of Brazil with the disciplined techniques of modern dance and classical ballet.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf?/entertainment/pd/e20grupo.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

Connecticut dance-goers are in for a treat:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>DanceBrazil At Charter Oak</B><P>FRANK RIZZO, Hartford Courant<P>Hartford may be turning into a try-out town for dance.<P>Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Dance Connecticut will bring the Afro-Brazilian dance troupe DanceBrazil to the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave, Hartford.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.ctnow.com/scripts/editorial.dll?fromspage=AE/genListing/genListing.htm&categoryid=146&only=y&bfromind=352&eeid=4538230&eetype=article&render=y&ck=&ver=2.8 target=_blank><B>More</B></a>

From the New York Times:<P><BR><B>Dance Brazil: Gods and Goddesses, at It Again</B><P>By JACK ANDERSON <BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Dance Brazil offered three ambitious premieres at the Joyce Theater on Tuesday night. Each of these works by the New York company sought to express some aspect of Brazil's cultural heritage in a fresh, contemporary manner. Although the experiments were not totally successful, the program held the attention, thanks to the dancers' energy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/19/arts/19JOYC.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><BR>

Clive Barnes gets a kick:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>DANCEBRAZIL IS A KICK</B><P>CLIVE BARNES, NY Post<P>May 22, 2001 -- THEY call it capoeira - it originated in Brazil by protesting slaves - and it's partly martial arts and it's partly dance. And it's very exciting to watch. <BR>Think of a mixture of judo, kung fu, break-dancing and acrobatics, toss in a touch of ballet - and that's capoeira, the specialty of DanceBrazil, which is at the Joyce Theater through Sunday.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.nypost.com/theatre/052201a.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

In the NY Times:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>DanceBrazil took two festivities to the Joyce Theater on Tuesday night. Each was choreographed by Jelon Vieira, the troupe's artistic director, for a cast of 12, and each blended traditional Brazilian dance forms with North American modern dance. But what was most striking about these creations was not their stylistic origins, but theatrical immediacy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/25/arts/dance/25JOYC.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Click for More</B></A>

From the Boston Globe:<P><B>Brazil's Grupo Corpo dazzles</B><P><BR>By Karen Campbell, Globe Correspondent, 7/12/2002<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>For more than a quarter-century, brothers Paulo and Rodrigo Pederneiras have been forging an artistic aesthetic for their Brazilian dance company that is as rich and multifaceted as Brazilian culture itself. Grupo Corpo's vibrant fusion of ballet, jazz, and modern dance is heavily infused with the sultry sensuousness and high-energy insouciance of a myriad of popular Afro-Brazilian dance styles. This distinctive vocabulary, performed by vivacious, superbly trained dancers, has helped make the company Brazil's most successful.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/193/living/Brazil_s_Grupo_Corpo_dazzles+.shtml" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A> <BR>

In the Boston Phoenix, Marcia Siegel reviews Grupo Corpo's performance at Jacob's Pillow:

Pomo locomoto - Grupo Corpo at Jacob’s Pillow