Alive and Kicking
Dancebrazil put the winter chill on hold.
The winter chill was put on hold when the warm front that is DanceBrazil passed through West Philly. The 16-member troupe is steeped in traditional steps of the South American country from whence it takes its name, including capoeira — which truly gives this group an extra kick. Developed in Brazil by Africans brought there as slaves, capoeira is a martial art disguised as dance; it's a clever subterfuge so that slave owners would not realize what was truly being practiced. Centuries ago, many Brazilian slaves gained their freedom thanks to capoeira, and it's easy to see why: Wily stealth moves included a sharp, sudden arm swing that came just as a dancer catapulted from a crouched position, as well as wide kicks meted out in circular fashion. These kicks can be quite spectacular, especially when the capoeirista takes to the air and spins 'round like an aerial windmill.
DanceBrazil's capoeiristas offered frequent bursts of this martial art meshed into the context of contemporary dance. The seamless integration added to the excitement, because you never knew when a pair of performers was going to deliver a dash of capoeira. And those high-flying kicks were a thrill, precise enough to graze a mere skosh above a performer's head. Had the timing been just a bit off, one can imagine an awful ouch.
This combat art form was most present in Desafio, which the program notes explained was "about personal conflict and how society forces us to conform or be left behind in oblivion," and while that may sound dreary, the piece was anything but. Here the performers enacted numerous brief scenarios — often with several going on at the same time — that suggested passionate quests for spiritual and personal affirmation. There were soloists feverishly grasping at the air, attempting to reach out to a higher being, as well as duos, trios and quartets engaged in phrases that suggested the slow emergence of suppressed primal urges.
With The Ritual, the company embarked on a journey through the historical native dances of Brazil. Primarily a large group work, here we saw samba and other tropical dance forms, reset in contemporary form to create a colorful, wide-raging view of festive communal celebration.
DanceBrazil
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Jan. 31
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