They say that their dance group is ‘more than the sum of its members’. You’ll know exactly what they mean when you see this choreographic creation about contemporary Brazil. Performed just before the international tour that brings the show to the Grec, Zona Franca caused a sensation with its artistic exploration of the people who claim their voice through dance and all that can be said through it. The show features passinho, an urban dance form born in the favelas that mixes pop, funk and break dancing with Brazilian beats. This is combined with contact improvisation, theatre, vocal exploration, Afro dances, Afro house, sabala and dances from the north and northeast of Brazil, such as the pisadinha and brega funk... as well as several dances created on social media. The company is fully in touch with contemporary Brazil and is able to draw out its essences and then present them with a touch of social and political criticism. They ask: Can a nation lead itself to its own destruction?
The mastermind is a choreographer, performer and movement director for theatre and film born in Rio de Janeiro who was studying to become a psychoanalyst when dance wandered into her life and changed it forever. Today, she is at the helm of Cia Rec, which was founded in 2009 with dancers from Rio’s favelas who work between dance and performance, and Cia. Suave, the company we’ll be seeing in Barcelona, which mixes contemporary dance with the aforementioned passinho, an urban dance style from Rio de Janeiro. If you already know her, it’s probably because she participated in the anti-fascist sessions held online at the Antic Teatre during the Grec 2020 Festival de Barcelona. Later, she presented the work Lavagem at the Mercat de les Flors. You’ll also be able to see her at this year’s Grec (Sunday 14 in the Pina Bausch hall) in the piece aCORdo.
Co-produced by the Festival of Marseilles, the Festival d’Automne à Paris, Charleroi Dance, RomaEuropa, Tandem, Tanzhaus NRW, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Julidans, Les Mécènes DanceAujourdhui
A show for audiences aged 16 and over
Directed by: Alice Ripoll. Performed by: Tiobil Dançarino Brabo, VN Dançarino Brabo, Maylla Eassy, Romulo Galvão, Thamires Candida, Thamires Costa, GB Dançarino Brabo, Hiltinho Fantástico, Katiany Correia, Peterson Sidy. Assistant director: Alan Ferreira, Thais Peixoto. Production director: Bem Medeiros. Production assistant: Isabela Peixoto. Lighting design: Tomas Ribas, Diana Joels. Lighting technician: Tainã Miranda. Set design: Alice Ripoll, Thais Peixoto, Rafael Elias. Costumes: Rafael Elias. Costumes and tailor’s assistant: Gah - Gabriel Alves. Sound choice: Alice Ripoll, Alan Ferreira, DJ Seduty. Sound and rehearsal technician: Renato Linhares. Photographs and video: Renato Mangolin. Graphic design: Caick Carvalho. Communication: Ana Righi. Press advisor: Marron Glacê Assecoria. Dance teachers: Tony Ewerton, Laura Samy. Participant in the creative process: Mey Barreto. International outreach: ART HAPPENS