retropica
SYNOPSIS
Retrópica is a work of cultural anthropophagy. The performance devours samba, bossa nova and flamenco and it is in stark contrast to the idea that a culture is hermetically sealed. While neocolonialism, fanaticism, intolerance, and immorality trample us, Retrópica is woman, hunger, fire, and extreme pleasure in the form of pure honey that flows through the veins of the Equator.
The hegemonic discourse, far from romantic ideas, defends that Brazil was "rediscovered" by means of an Iberian-Catholic treaty. Having said this, it was our America that gave birth to European modernity. However, we were fed up with a catechism, leaving us breastfeeding, thirsty, of a profane virgin. Our hero is the barbarian and has a woman's breasts, like the pasiegas, who provided their essence in milk to the children of power.
We continue aimlessly but with samba on our feet, immersed in the fissure of the nation of tropicalism. The Matriarchate of Pindorama is reborn in this work and stages the redefinition of everything that had to die for us to be born.
reviews
Veronica Posth // SeeingDance Magazine (Europe)
¨Retrópica by talented Brazilian Mari Paula at Dock11 is a work of cultural anthropophagy (...) It’s a beautifully stratified work dealing with the eclectic aspects that define a woman. The metaphors Paula presents are interwoven with strength, charisma, savoir faire, beauty, self-confidence and irony, all merging together in a brilliant and entertaining way. ¨
Nicholas Campanelli // Campadidanza Magazine (Italy)
¨Retrópica is an interesting representation, well constructed, pleasant to watch, performed with ferocity, strength and energy. It is a work full of important contents that offer numerous points of reflection¨.
Andreia Evangelista // ArtCult Magazine (Brazil)
¨Retrópica is a solo show that denounces the domination of the senses by neocolonialism, it also discusses fanaticism and intolerance [...]. The gestural crossings that go from samba to flamenco reverberate from them, tearing apart the spatiality with a body that brings to the scene what it means to be a woman: an objective field of the colonizer violation in South American lands¨.
Retrópica received the National Funarte Klauss Vianna Dance Award (Brazil).
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Retrópica is a performance and dance solo by the choreographer Mari Paula whereby she expresses the influence that may exist between two cultures in constant friction beyond time and borders. How to anthropophagize two cultures and their bodies, movements, colonialisms and decolonialisms all at once in a choreographic work?
The work was awarded with the Funarte National Dance Prize Klauss Vianna and, since the premiere (2017), it has been performed nearly 40 times in venues and festivals in South America, Africa and Europe. Nowadays, Retrópica is the main work introducing the artist's productions to European scene, such as in the 36th edition of the Madrid en Danza Festival.
The performance is the result of cooperation and collaboration between Brazilian and Spanish artists, who carried out an artistic dialogue of creation, experimenting with the concept of anthropophagy during the creative process.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Concept, choreography and performance: Mari Paula
Choreography advisors: Airton Rodrigues and Ángela Donat Mas
Dramaturgy advisors: Giorgia Conceição, Leonarda Glück and Ricardo Nolasco
Texts: Leonarda Glück and Luis Pablo Beauregard (El Pais)
Lighting Design: Trio Desenho de Luz
Musical Direction: Fernando de Castro
Visual identity: Evandro Prado
Technician during the tour: Carlos Molina or Flavia Mayans
Costume: Mari Paula
Videos: Livea Castro Calvo
Photos: Cayo Vieira and Humberto Araújo
Production and Coordination (premiere): Jorge Schneider and Simone Bönisch - ABABTG
Management and Distribution: Iñaki Díez Lapeña
Direction: Mari Paula - Dance & Performance
Sponsor: National Arts Foundation - Funarte, Brazil 2017