SESSIONS -
PAPER
Integrating Differences:
The Influence of Asian Dance and Martial Arts in Brazilian contemporary performance
Ciane Fernandes, BRAZIL
The paper presents and analyses a selected number of Brazilian performances created under the influence of Asian dance and/or martial arts techniques. Selected Brazilian performing artists include Alice Stefânia (Chinese Qi Gong), Cinthia Kunifas (Japanese Nishino-ryu Kokyuho), Group LUME (Butoh), Ivaldo Bertazzo (Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathakali), Marta Soares (Butoh), Marjorie Sá (Thai Dance), and the author (Bharatanatyam and Maylasian contemporary dance). Through such intercultural dialogue, these artists have created innovative and ground-breaking performances presented in Brazil and abroad.
Instead of simply copying stereotyped gestures, these performances present us with key movement concepts present in the selected Asian traditions—discussed in the paper in terms of Laban Movement Analysis. The creative use of Asian techniques by/in Brazilian bodies demonstrates the mobility of tradition, and its ability to reaffirm itself precisely by multiplying itself through time and space. In this context, Laban terminology is coherent with Asian traditions, providing a dynamic structure for the understanding of intercultural exchange.
Ciane Fernandes is a tenured professor in the Performing Arts Graduate Program at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil and an associate researcher at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS), New York. She received a Ph.D. in art and humanities for performing artists from New York University (1995) and a certificate of movement analysis from LIMS (1994). More information: www.cianefernandes.pro.br
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