"...the sensuality of the samba and the
technical prowess of ballet with a contemporary, highly theatrical sensibility..."
—The Boston Globe
BENGUELÊ AND BREU
- GRUPO CORPO
- CHOREOGRAPHED BY RODRIGO PEDERNEIRAS
Mar 25, 27—29 at 7:30pm
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
Running Time: 100min with intermission
Ebullient, dynamic, and profoundly expressive,
Grupo Corpo—Brazil's most exalted contemporary
dance company—returns to BAM with a program
that showcases the troupe's remarkable kinetic
range. Not content with the limits of a single
movement style, choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras
schools his performers in modern, jazz, ballet,
Afro-Brazilian, and urban forms. The results are
electrifying. Whether conveying the pure pleasure
of tearing through space or the often-fraught
intricacies of love, the dancers radiate grace, power,
and an exuberant sensuality. Combined with an
instinctive connection to music, Grupo Corpo revels
in the body's boundless potential.
A society bereft of communication defines Breu,
a daring new work rife with palpable anxiety and
aggression. With a score by Brazilian composer
Lenine (an arresting combination of folk, rock,
and found sounds), Pederneiras has created a
netherworld in which the dancers crouch, push,
and tug—avaricious and alienated, oblivious to
their pain and to one another. Also on the program,
the mesmerizing Benguelê explores Brazil's
African, Arabic, and European dance roots to a
commissioned score by João Bosco.
Benguelê
Music by João Bosco
Set design by Fernando Velloso and Paulo Pederneiras
Costume design by Freusa Zechmeister
Lighting design by Paulo Pederneiras
Breu
Music by Lenine
Costume design by Freusa Zechmeister
Set and lighting design by Paulo Pederneiras
Photo by José Luiz Pederneiras