Premiere US Premiere
Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description Returning to BAM with its undulating physicality and fluid footwork, Grupo Corpo brings a pair of dramatically contrasting works—Bach and Gira. Initially created for the 1996 Lyons Dance Biennial, Bach is a playful exercise in perception of what one hears and what one sees. Pederneiras fuses contemporary kinetic movements with flares of regal, classical form. As dancers clad in gold, black, and blue drop from, ascend, and hang from giant steel tubes resembling organ pipes, Marco Antonio Guimarães’ score reimagines Bach’s meticulous majesty. Then the ensemble transports the audience to its home country with the dynamic Gira, featuring a first-time collaboration with São Paulo punk-jazz-rock band Metá Metá. The work honors Brazil’s diaspora by invoking potent ritualistic rhythms and movement rooted in the rites of Umbanda— one of the most widely practiced Brazilian religions which combines Candomblé with Catholicism and Kardecism—and serves as the primary source of inspiration for the Gira’s aesthetics.
Founded by Paulo Pederneiras in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1975, Grupo Corpo has received widespread acclaim for its vibrant dances in which choreography, lighting, sets, and costumes interplay. Now in its third decade, brothers Paulo and Rodrigo Pederneiras (artistic director and choreographer, respectively), Fernando Velloso (set designer), Freusa Zechmeister (costume designer), and the 21-member dance company continue to meld the past, present, and future of their native land into an art that is unmistakably Brazilian. Grupo Corpo previously appeared at BAM with 21 & O Corpo (2002 Next Wave), Lecuona and Onqotô (2005 Next Wave), Benguelê and Breu (2008 Spring Season), and Ímã and Sem Mim (2012 Next Wave).
Identifier 2019s.00131
