It’s the fifth largest nation in the world, known for its beauty, passionate populace, and colourful history.
Brazil is also a place of societal contradictions, as seen in the parity between the wealthy and poor.
It’s a long history on how the favelas (slums) came to be in Brazil’s second largest city of Rio de Janeiro. However, tucked inside the dense urban sprawl, where tiny shacks are stacked upon one another, a beautiful and stunning art form has emerged.
Dating back to when African slaves arrived in Brazil, capoeira, which is sometimes referred to as a game, fuses elements of martial arts, dance, acrobatics and music.
And it’s one of the art forms that Brazilian dance troupe, Compagnie Käfig, will demonstrate in leaps and bounds when it brings Käfig: Brasil to the Vernon Performing Arts Centre April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
The 11 male dancers that make up the troupe come from the favelas of Rio, and their passion and talent for movement and dance in all its forms is what make them unique.
“Dance becomes mass movement that is percussive, jubilatory, and in which hip-hop also finds its place, its groove, its roots and sometimes even its soul,” said Anthony Egéa, one of Käfig: Brasil’s choreographers who all hail from France. “This music, combined with its dance, takes the body into a state of euphoric innocence where hearts beat to an adrenaline pulse.”
The show starts with the sound of classical music, with Käfig’s 11 male dancers portraying the poetry the melody suggests. Suddenly, the beat picks up and electronica pours through the speakers and the dancers reveal the energy and the masculinity of their art form.
Compagnie Käfig pushes the boundaries of movement to their limits.
“Formidable is the adjective that best suits the 11 artists who glide with palpable ease from one scene to another,” said art critic Géraldine Pigault in French newspaper, Direct Montpellier Plus. “When Vivaldi is summoned to turn out the lights on Käfig Brasil, one cannot help thinking that this is about much more than hip-hop. What we are seeing here is nothing other than a full-on confrontation with the 21st century.”
Käfig: Brasil is built on the concept of connecting people, which is revealed as a collection of men await an elevator. The points of view of each man are slowly revealed through voluntary flirts with animation and slapstick movements.
The knots that bind each player to one another are suggested through the physical contortions and vocal acrobatics of the performers. Untying those links is what brings people together and exposes human nature.
The desire to discover and encounter other worlds of dance led to the creation of Käfig: Brasil.
The piece is a collaboration of company dancers under the artistic direction of Mourad Merzouki, as well as the choreography of Denis Plassard, Céline Lefevre, Octavio Nassur, and Egéa.
“The aim of this work is to show how a variety of cultures is mingled with contemporary pop production styles,” said Nassur.
Since its creation, Käfig: Brasil has been performed 76 times in 44 cities and seven countries, including France, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and the U.S.
Vernon is one of only three Canadian stops included on company’s current tour schedule.
Tickets for Käfig: Brasil are $40 for adults, $37 for seniors, $35 for students and are on sale now at the Ticket Seller box office. Call 549-SHOW (7469) or order online at www.ticketseller.ca.
