HAU 3: April 9th & 10th, 6 pm
Paula Carneiro Dias, Salvador / Bahia
»Para o herói: experimentos sem nenhum caráter – corpo
sobre papel«
(For the Hero: Experiments Devoid of Character – Bodies on Paper)
European premiere
Artist Talk: April 10th, after the performance
“Bodies on Paper” is part of a series of performances entitled “For the Hero: Experiments Devoid of Character”. It is a dance study, which began in Portugal at the centro em movimento (c-e-m) in 2008 and was inspired by the literary work Macunaíma, o Herói sem Nenhum Caráter by Mário de Andrade. The subject of this performance is the mestizo’s vague, autophagic body, which internalizes various characters and thus becomes a subject “devoid of character”, mutating, mixing and constantly recreating itself anew. The relationship between the performer and book Macunaíma takes place on a sensual level - like diving into a river that eventually carries one off, that disfigures, dissolves, loses control and loosens all moorings of geography; leading to various corporealities in which the self regains territory in multiple characters.
“Macunaíma was the starting point for Brazilian Modernismo, a rejection of the colonial era, academic conventions and pathetic noblesse. This novel on modern Brazilian identity is a satire of Portuguese purism, an American concept of language and culture in which the primitive and futuristic Brazil and residents of the natural, as well as urban jungle of São Paulo meet.“