{"id":214682,"date":"2016-03-28T18:12:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-28T21:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/?p=214682"},"modified":"2016-03-28T18:12:29","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T21:12:29","slug":"a-way-of-dancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/a-way-of-dancing\/","title":{"rendered":"A way of dancing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ballerina

Silvia Machado<\/span>Ballerina B\u00e1rbara Lins in the choreographic piece Momento(s) de sil\u00eancio<\/em>Silvia Machado<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In 2011, when teacher, researcher and choreographer Sayonara Pereira created the Research and Studies Laboratory in Tanz Theatralidades (Lapett) at the Department of Performing Arts of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s School of Communications and Arts (ECA-USP), she knew that one of her first challenges would be to express Tanztheater in its various dimensions. According to Pereira, instead of seeing Tanztheater exclusively<\/i><\/em> in terms of \u201cdance theater\u201d (according to the common Brazilian translation)\u2014particularly through the works of German choreographer Pina Bausch (1940-2009)\u2014the movement should be viewed today as a way of thinking and creating dance based on the teachings of its pioneers, while at the same time recognizing the contributions of those who currently create and interpret its forms and concepts.<\/p>\n

German dancer and choreographer Kurt Jooss (1901-1979) is believed to have coined the term Tanztheater in 1935. In 1932, Jooss choreographed The Green Table <\/i><\/em>(a ballet about the hardships of war inspired by the German Danse Macabre of the 15th<\/sup> century), considered the initial expression of Tanztheater.\u00a0 In terms of both its subject matter and the way it was composed based on a variety of sketches, the work represents a departure from the formative elements common to classical ballet and a landmark work of its time. To this day, The Green Table<\/i><\/em> is a part of the repertoire of dance companies the world over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat characterized Tanztheater was its ability to transcend the techniques of classical ballet and incorporate the dramatic elements of theater,\u201d Pereira explains.\u00a0 Just as Pereira was beginning her career in 1984, German choreographer and Tanztheater disciple Susanne Linke recommended her to Essen, Germany\u2019s Folkwang Hochschule (today the Folkwang University of the Arts), under its director Pina Bausch, after watching Pereira audition in her native city of Porto Alegre.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn Essen I began developing my calligraphic choreography and the basic outlines of the teaching techniques that I would later refine,\u201d adds Pereira.<\/p>\n

\"scene

Silvia Machado<\/span>Scene from Unterwegs<\/em>: products of the dialogue between the Lapett and Tanztheater<\/em>Silvia Machado<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Today, Lappet includes six undergraduate and graduate student participants from ECA\u2019s Department of Performing Arts and partner universities. Dancer-actors without required dance experience are selected each year through a trial class that takes place at the beginning of the students\u2019 first semester.<\/p>\n

Lappett members meet twice a week for a little more than three hours of physical training, exercises to help develop the expressive quality of movement, and theoretical classes about the history of Tanztheater and its choreography. Pereira\u2019s focus is either on the gestures of everyday life (walking, eating, brushing teeth) or in exploring new spatial dimensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTanztheater techniques cannot be taught in class,\u201d explains Pereira, both instructor and author of Rastros<\/i><\/em> do Tanztheater no processo criativo de Es-bo\u00e7o<\/i><\/em> (Tanztheater\u2019s footprints in the es-bo\u00e7o <\/i><\/em>creative process), (Annablume publisher) a book about the German group\u2019s relevance to her work. \u201cIt is a way of applying one\u2019s work,\u201d she adds, \u201cfocusing on the interpreter\u2014his feelings, sensations, and memories. Kurt Jooss suggested that the interpreter\u2019s body was the material itself: a precious stone ready to be cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"choreographic

Silvia Machado<\/span>Choreographic piece Momento(s) de sil\u00eancio<\/em>Silvia Machado<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

At Lapett, Pereira sets out to combine research and practice. \u201cShe always made clear her desire to understand what each one had to show, express and assert through movement,\u201d says Rafael Sertori, a Lapett participant from 2011 to 2013,\u2014who introduced the cast of Momento(s) de sil\u00eancio <\/i><\/em>(Moments of Silence), the group\u2019s first performance, in 2012\u2014now pursuing his master\u2019s in the performing arts at ECA with a scholarship from FAPESP.\u00a0 \u201cAs the group\u2019s weekly meetings took place,\u201d explains Sertori, \u201cshe had the insight to perceive common themes that came up in our conversations, and in the texts and images that we brought along with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe task always begins with an effort to stimulate memory in the interpreter\u2019s body\u2014sensations and feelings,\u201d says Pereira.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In V\u00e3os <\/i><\/em>(Empty spaces), which had its debut performance in August 2015, the choreographer relied on photographs.\u00a0 Each interpreter researched and then photographed spaces or situations that were identified in terms of the following ideas: what would the urban spaces be and who inhabits them?\u00a0 The starting point for each participant is always individual research. Pereira follows up by suggesting gestures or sequences for creating the piece at hand.<\/p>\n

Lapett also encouraged Pereira to pursue yet a second post-doctoral degree. In December 2015, with a scholarship from FAPESP, she enters the Free University of Berlin to work on a project titled \u201cArquivos corporais dos int\u00e9rpretes: mem\u00f3rias levadas para a cena<\/a>\u201d (Interpreters\u2019 Corporeal Archives: from memory to the stage). <\/i><\/em>\u201cThe group is my constant source of inspiration,\u201d she says. \u201cI now try to imagine my \u2018task\u2019\u2014viewing in an academic light the works I had carried out primarily with performance in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USP Group adopts the principles of German Tanztheater","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[221,263],"coauthors":[1579],"class_list":["post-214682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","tag-dance","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214682"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=214682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}