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Virtual Home Season Bringing the World’s Best Dance to your home
Grupo Corpo
BRAZIL // CONTEMPORARY DANCE
Dança Sinfônica, Parabelo February 25–28, 2021 Watch Together/Chat After: Saturday, February 27, 2021 • 5:00 pm Pacific Dança Sinfônica running time: 42 minutes • Parabelo running time: 42 minutes Premiere: Dança Sinfônica (2015) and Parabelo (1997)
Photos: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
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2020-21 Season (Virtual) Home Series
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and your home, and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from its studios in Quadra Village. Dance Victoria is a non-profit charitable society. DanceVictoria.com
One “Group Body”, Grupo Corpo Balances Precision with Reckless Abandon
Dance Victoria Board: President
Susan K.E. Howard
Vice President
Robert Millar
Secretary
Colette Baty
Treasurer
Emily Zeng
Directors
Frances Grunberg Stacey Horton
Staff: Executive Producer
Stephen White
General Manager
Bernard Sauvé
Operations Manager
Shireen McNeilage
Marketing Manager
Tracy Smith
Accounting
Julie Collins
Paulo (left) & Rodrigo Pederneiras Photos: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
Studios and Administrative Assistant Kiera Shaw Graphic Design
Rayola Creative
If you’d like to volunteer for Dance Victoria please visit DanceVictoria.com and complete the online volunteer form. Studios and Office: 111 – 2750 Quadra Street Victoria, BC V8T 4E8 P: 250-595-1829 F: 250-590-7209 info@dancevictoria.com DanceVictoria.com for trailers, tickets and more information
Dance Victoria is supported by: PUBLIC FUNDERS
Dance Victoria wishes to thank its many donors and volunteers. Dance Victoria’s Chrystal Dance Fund and Endowment Fund are held at Victoria Foundation. Dance Victoria is a proud member of the CanDance Network and the Greater Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture.
Perhaps this is your first time experiencing Grupo Corpo or maybe you saw them perform during the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. If you did, you are unlikely to forget that show — the dancers performing on a soaking wet stage in the pouring rain. Grupo Corpo (meaning “Group Body”) truly moves as one integrated body balancing precision with reckless abandon. This dance troupe is often mentioned in conversations in the Dance Victoria office as we’ve been trying to get them to Victoria for years. When things fell into place to offer them as part of our Virtual Home Season this year, we jumped at the opportunity. Adversity is nothing new to Grupo Corpo. The company was founded in 1975 when Brazil was under military rule. The suppression of free expression and the brutality of the army, which ran Brazil from 1964 to 1985, provoked a crisis in the national identity of Brazilians, for whom music and dance had been the fabric of their everyday lives. Brothers Rodrigo and Paulo Pederneiras, with four other family members and six friends, were studying dance in Belo Horizonte when they decided to form the dance company. They wanted to create a kind of dance that would be the true face of Brazil, a way of moving and dancing that expressed the real identity of Brazilian people. It wasn’t until 1978, when Rodrigo took over as resident
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choreographer, that Grupo Corpo began to fully articulate its trademark repertory style: a combination of classical ballet with modern dance and elements of the traditional Brazilian idioms of samba and capoeira (Brazilian martial arts). Parabelo, one of the company’s signature works and part of this virtual program, is infused with the culture of northeastern Brazil and its back country, the poor and arid sertão, whose music and dance freely mixes folk traditions from indigenous Brazilian, European, and African sources. The piece opens with the slow pounding of hammers, evoking not only toil, but the weapon of the northeast sun, the “sol parabelo”, that is so hot it kills. “Parabelo draws inspiration from the art of the northeast, a very poor region where life is really hard, but the paintings people do there are full of colour, and the music is absolutely happy—the dances too. That, for me, is a great paradox. It’s almost the opposite of what their lives are like,” explains Pederneiras. Also on the virtual program is Dança Sinfônica, a tribute to the company’s 40-year history of incredible works, 34 of which are with Rodrigo Pederneiras as its resident choreographer. We hope that you enjoy this very special presentation with Grupo Corpo!
2020-21 Season (Virtual) Home Series
About the Works Dança Sinfônica (Symphonic Dance) Premiere: 2015 Choreographer: Rodrigo Pederneiras Music: Marco Antônio Guimarães Set Design: Paulo Pederneiras Costume Design: Freusa Zechmeister Lighting: Paulo Pederneiras and Gabriel Pederneiras Created to celebrate Grupo Corpo’s 40th anniversary in 2015, Dança Sinfônica is built on the concept of memories proposed by Artistic Director Paulo Pederneiras. In this first symphony created especially for the dance company, composer Marco Antônio Guimarães combines a sophisticated plot with original pieces and evocative musical passages from ballets recently produced by Grupo Corpo. The set of themes, written masterfully for the 90-member Philharmonic Orchestra of Minas Gerais, and interconnected by musical bridges performed by the Uakti group, allows Rodrigo Pederneiras to revisit the best works from the group’s repertoire, and a kind of synthesis of a choreographic scripture assembled over 34 years of residence at the company.
Taken from the private collections of professionals who have collaborated with or had an influence on the trajectory of Grupo Corpo over 40 years, a thousand informal photographic snapshots make up the 8m by 16m backdrop panel, establishing the mood for the show. The photos reflect the daily lives of the artistic and technical team members — Grupo Corpo dancers, ballet masters, producers, teachers, set designers, and lighting and costume technicians. In contrast to the everyday character of the situations represented in the photographs, wine-red velvet curtains cover the base of the theater while the legs of the dancers are covered in tights of the same color, giving the performance a discrete air of solemnity. The result is a cascading lyricism, woven with references to characters and eras that, on or off the stage, have marked the history of Grupo Corpo. It is a subtle and well-balanced dilution of memories, which lends highly charged emotions to the work — and which reach their climax in the extensive and exquisite pas-de-deux spiral, reputed by its creator as among the best that he has ever worked on.
Photos: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
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About the Works Parabelo Premiere: 1997 Choreographer: Rodrigo Pederneiras Music: Tom Zé and José Miguel Wisnik Set Design: Fernando Velloso and Paulo Pederneiras Costume Design: Freusa Zechmeister Lighting: Paulo Pederneiras Parabelo: corruption of parabélum, German made automatic pistol. From the Latin ‘Sivis pacem para bellum’ – “If you wish peace, be prepared for war.” The country-side inspiration and the resulting contemporary soundtrack, written by Tom Zé and José Miguel Wisnik, for 1997’s Parabelo, prompted the choreographer from Grupo Corpo to bring into life that, which he himself refers to, as his “most Brazilian and regional” creation. From working and devotion chants, from the memory of the rhythmic baião and from the ever present, entangled, rhythmic points and counterpoints, emerges choreography full of hip swaying and feet stamping. Parabelo is a ravishing statement of the expressive force of a dance. It is mulatto, carafuz, mameluke. It’s mestizo, it’s Brazilian. It’s the sun hitting hard on the leather hats and on the dry earth. It smells of sweat and of hard work and of pleasant, pleasurable perspiration. It sounds like a lazy, relaxed forró, a working chant, grievance. It’s penetrating and shiny. It is parabelo. The interior of country-side churches inspired Fernando Velloso and Paulo Pederneiras to create 15 metre by 8 metre panels that are illustrated with images and printed digitally using photographs by José Luiz Pederneiras as part of the stage setting. Freusa Zechmeister creates the lighting and shadow effects by having the dancers wear leotards in shades of red, orange and yellow, with the intensity of these colors slightly toned down by black tulle. Only the colours of the dance shoes stand out as they are. This is the beginning of Parabelo. On the festive explosion of the balé’s final part, the dancers wear fishermen’s pants and skin color shoes, creating the illusion of being barefoot. Freed from their veils, the leotards rejoice at the high temperature of their colours. Photo: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
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2020-21 Season (Virtual) Home Series
The Company Grupo Corpo is from Minas Gerais, Brazil, but their ballet crosses borders. Brazil as a whole, with all its cultural diversity, can see itself in Grupo Corpo, the dance company founded in 1975 in Belo Horizonte. In a world where the speed of information is producing an increasingly homogeneous landscape, the company stands out for having developed a signature of its own. There are three basic reasons for the uniqueness of the company in the contemporary dance scene. First, there is
Rodrigo Pederneiras, the house choreographer — one of the few able to mix classic ballet and folk dances and then set to motion bodies that push the limits of technical rigor. Second, the wisdom with which Paulo Pederneiras transforms choreography into a dance artwork. Besides directing the company, he signs the scenography and lighting designs that customize the scenic finishing for each production with a kind of quality that continues to introduce new references, part of which are the costumes by Freusa
PAULO PEDERNEIRAS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Zechmeisteir, and the skill of translating clothing into movement. And third, there is a balanced cast of dancers, stars in their own right, re-tuning each other with exquisite precision. When one sees Grupo Corpo dance on stage, it is as if all questions concerning the transit between nature and culture are being fully answered. All facets of Brazil, past and future, erudite and popular, foreign influence and local color, and the urban and the suburban, come to being as art. Brazilian art. World art.
RODRIGO PEDERNEIRAS, RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER
“Grupo Corpo is under nobody’s name: we were able to get an identity as a group,” says Paulo Pederneiras. “Dance, music, lighting, costumes, and stage setting are all integrated as one in Grupo Corpo’s creations.” Yet someone must direct the group—and this was always Paulo Pederneiras’s job.
“It was only in 1988, when working in Uakti, that I started thinking about what it would be like to make a dance which would be more inside our body,” said choreographer Rodrigo’s Pederneiras, and words that define a crucial moment not only for his career but also for Grupo Corpo as well. His work since can be seen in a variety of explorations of this “dance inside our body”—which is the dance of Grupo Corpo.
As general and artistic director of the company, Paulo is also responsible for the lighting of the ballets and, since Bach (1996), has participated in the creation of stage setting. Of using light as a strong presence which both illuminates and serves as a space for dancing, Paulo says, “I think of the space the same way I think of the lighting. Sometimes the light is the space.”
The language of Rodrigo is essentially a modern one. In his own way he harbours the xaxado, the samba, the ballroom dance, the celebrations, the capoeira. Everything is translated into a private world where dynamics and balance have even more meaning than movement. Everything contains a certain amount of joy and humour, which, even though joyous and good humoured, does not hide the violence and the ambiguity of the human condition. Always guided by music, Rodrigo “breaks” the classical movements in an intensely Brazilian way, however, entirely free from the exotic, from boastful, and from easy identities.
This is evident in the piece O Corpo (2000), where the distinction between stage setting and lighting virtually disappears and the dancers dance in red; or in 21 (1992), where a spotlight serves as a mobile tunnel for a block of bodies; or in Sete ou oito peças para um ballet (1994) where, at the end, each dancer individualizes themselves in a vertical column of color; or in so many other moments when light itself seems to direct the counterpoint of the bodies on stage.
Being Grupo Corpo’s choreographer since 1978, Rodrigo’s work is recognized nationally and internationally. He has choreographed for Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, Ballet do Teatro Guaíra, Ballet da Cidade de São Paulo, and Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais. Outside Brazil he has worked with Deutsche Oper Berlin Company (Germany), Gulbenkian (Portugal), Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (Canada), Stadttheater Saint Gallen (Switzerland), and Opéra du Rhin (France).
Besides his work with Grupo Corpo, Paulo has done lighting projects for several operas including Don Giovanni, Suor Angelica, Lucia de Lammermoor, La Voix Humaine, and Salomé and Orfeo, to mention a few. He has also done the set designing for exhibits such as the section for “Indigenous and Anthropologic Art” at the Brazil 500 years Exhibit, at the “Oca” (Hut)—at the Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, (2000). Paolo notes, “A Brazilian company has great physical diversity. Each dancer’s movement is different, and yet the idea of being a group is not lost. That’s where the dance draws its strength from.” These words describe what happens not only with the bodies, but equally serves to describe the company. Under the direction of Paulo, Grupo Corpo made a virtue out of its diversities and continues making this virtue the principle of creation: a way of knowing and not knowing, a bet on the unknown in order to always reach a new dance, which will always be its own dance.
But creating for Grupo Corpo remains his main interest. He notes that Grupo Corpo today has its own language, which is something difficult to achieve. This does not mean that things become easier. Much on the contrary, Rodrigo goes on to say that “I may make a mistake one thousand times while creating, until I find that which I want. This is not possible with other dance companies. There are pressures for time.” Creation, almost by definition, means anguish, but the support of the choreography assistants, Carmen Purri and Miriam Pederneiras, help minimize the efforts to see the dance being slowly created on stage. Grupo Corpo’s dancers learn what this body of ours is, as imagined by Rodrigo during the creation phase. They are like tuned up instruments ready to be played. If Grupo Corpo has a language all its own today, it is Rodrigo’s language. It has his unmistakable accent, which is understood by everybody, because it is our body that he induces to dance.
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Dancers Edson Hayzer before joining Grupo Corpo in 2001 worked with Ballet do Teatro Guaira and began his dance studies in 1997.
Ágatha Faro joined Grupo Corpo in 2017 having previously danced with Cia Sesc de Dança. Bianca Victal began her dance studies in September 2006. Before joining Grupo Corpo in June 2014, she danced with Companhia Jovem de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro and Companhia de Dança do Sesc. Dayanne Amaral joined Grupo Corpo in 2012 having previously danced with Cia de Dança Sesiminas. She began her dance studies in 2001. Débora Roots joined Grupo Corpo in 2019 having previously danced with Cia Cisne Negro and Cia Mário Nascimento. Edésio Nunes started his dance studies in 2004 and worked with Cia de Dança Sesiminas before joining Grupo Corpo in 2018. Edmárcio Junior began his dance studies in 2002 and danced with Ballet Jovem do Palácio das Artes before joining Grupo Corpo in 2014.
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Jonathan de Paula danced with Cia Sesi Minas and Compagnia Zapallà Danza before joining Grupo Corpo in 2019.
Elias Bouza started his dance studies in 1989. He danced with Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais, Ballet do Teatro Castro Alves and Cia Deborah Colker before joining Grupo Corpo in 2009.
Karen Rangel after beginning her dance studies in 2008, danced with Cia Sesc de Dança. She joined Grupo Corpo in 2017. Luan Batista began his dance studies in 2007 and has danced with Cia de Ballet Jovem do Rio de Janeiro, Cia Nós da Dança and Cia Sesc de Dança, before joining Grupo Corpo in 2016.
Filipe Bruschi joined Grupo Corpo in 2005 having previously danced with Raça Companhia de Dança and Ballet do Teatro Castro Alves. He began his dance
Lucas Saraiva after beginning his dance studies in 2006, danced with Cia de Teatro e Dança Ivaldo Bertazzo, Bienal de Dança Contemporânea de Veneza and Cia de Dança Deborah Colker. He joined Grupo Corpo in December 2013.
studies in 1993. Helbert Pimenta joined Grupo Corpo in 2004 having previously danced with Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais, Grupo Camaleão and Quik Companhia de Dança. He began his studies in 1996.
Malu Figueiroa began her dance studies in 1990. She danced with Grupo Camaleão, Ballet do Teatro Castro Alves and Ballet Jovem do Palácio das Artes before joining Grupo Corpo in 2011.
Janaina Castro began her dance studies in 1981 and danced with Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais before joining Grupo Corpo in 2000.
Rafael Bittar started his dance studies in 2002 and danced with Cia Mario Nascimento before joining Grupo Corpo in 2012. Rafaela Fernandes started her dance studies in 1998 and joined Grupo Corpo in 2011. Silvia Gaspar danced with Ballet da Cidade de São Paulo and Companhia de Dança de Minas Gerais before joining Grupo Corpo in 2001. Williene Sampaio before joining Grupo Corpo in 2012 worked with Washington Ballet and São Paulo Cia de Dança. She began her dance studies in 1990. Yasmin Almeida started her dance studies in 1999 and joined Grupo Corpo in 2012.
Mariana do Rosário before joining Grupo Corpo in 2005 danced with Ballet do Teatro Guaira and Balé da Cidade de São Paulo. She began her dance studies in 1989. 6
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The Company Artistic Director Choreographer Dancers
Rehearsal Director Choreography Assistants Ballet Mistress Pianist Technical Director Technical Coordinator Technicians Wardrobe Assistants Administrator Administrative Manager Administrative Assistant Secretary Documentation Communication Director Communication Assistant Program Director Executive Producer Production
O
Paulo Pederneiras Rodrigo Pederneiras Ágatha Faro, Bianca Victal, Dayanne Amaral, Débora Roots, Edésio Nunes, Edmárcio Júnior, Edson Hayzer, Elias Bouza, Filipe Bruschi, Helbert Pimenta, Janaina Castro, Jonathan de Paula, Karen Rangel, Luan Batista, Lucas Saraiva, Malu Figueirôa, Mariana do Rosário, Rafael Bittar, Rafaela Fernandes, Sílvia Gaspar, Williene Sampaio, Yasmin Almeida Carmen Purri Ana Paula Cançado, Carmen Purri, Miriam Pederneiras Bettina Bellomo Anna Maria Ferreira Pedro Pederneiras Gabriel Pederneiras Átilla Gomes, Murilo Oliveira, Stefan Böttcher Alexandre Vasconcelos, Maria Luiza Magalhães Marcello Cláudio Teixeira Kênia Marques Marcel Gordon Firing Flávia Labbate Cândida Braz Cristina Castilho Mateus Castilho Cláudia Ribeiro Michelle Deslandes Instituto Cultural Corpo
grupocorpo.com /grupocorpo /grupo_corpo /grupocorpo /grupocorpooficial /grupocorpo
Photos: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
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Sell your home. Support Dance Victoria. Choose a DFH realtor below and mention Dance Victoria when you buy or sell your property. Ten percent of the realtor’s commission helps bring the World’s Best Dance to our community. Maureen Vincent
Rosemary Tulett
maureenvincent68@gmail.com 250-656-0131
homes@rosemarytulett.com 250-477-7291
John Melvin
Dorothee Friese
john@johnmelvinproperties.ca 250-477-7291
dorothee@shaw.ca 250-477-7291
Terry Moore tlmoore@shaw.ca 250-477-7291
Peter Crichton crichton@islandnet.com 250-477-7291
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2020-21 Season (Virtual) Home Series