100 years of Mercedes Baptista Meeting
The event 100 years of Mercedes Baptista Meeting, presented by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro through the Grafias do Gesto Laboratory, supported by the Pro-Rectory of Extension – PR5, School of Physical Education and Sports (EEFD) and Department of Arts of the Body (DAC), in partnership with the Graduate Program in Dance - PPGDAN, Research Center in Dance and Afro-Brazilian Culture - NUDAFRO and the Project in Africanity in Dance-Education - PADE, of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro comes to honor one of the protagonists of Afro-Brazilian Dance, Mercedes Baptista, promoting a space for exchanges between the Undergraduate Courses in Dance in the country, dance professionals and other areas of the arts. Dialogic interaction with the theme of Afro-Brazilian dance through the sharing of processes, knowledge, memories and practices in contemporaneity, in the dance community and in different artistic manifestations.
Mercedes Baptista (born in Campos dos Goytacazes, May 20, 1921) began her dance training in Rio de Janeiro, in 1945, with Eros Volúsia at the Serviço Nacional de Teatro, and at the School of Dances of the Municipal Theater (currently, Maria Olenewa School of Dance) with dancers such as Tatiana Leskova, Nina Verchinina, Yuco Lindberg. She became the first black ballerina to pass a public exam for the Municipal Theater Corps de Ballet, in 1948. At the end of the 1940s, Mercedes participated as a dancer and choreographer in the Teatro Experimental do Negro (TEN), founded by Abdias do Nascimento in 1944. In 1950 she participated in the 1st Congress of the Black Brazilian, where she met Katherine Dunham: activist, dancer, choreographer, and American anthropologist and researcher of Afro dance in the USA, who then invited her to spend a year at her school in New York. Dunham's influence is due to the connections between dance and elements of the black diaspora in the ritual and scenic dances of Caribbean and Latin American cultures. Trinidad, Martinique and Haiti.
During her time in the USA, Baptista took classes in Labanotation, a notation that she would later use when returning to Brazil, when she created her unique dance methodology. Professor Fernando Ferraz mentions Batista's curriculum, which included courses in dance history, dance notation, eukinetics, acting, visual arts, anthropology, languages, philosophy, and religion. Her dance technique classes incorporated practices composed of classical ballet patterns such as tendus, développés, le rond de jambes, also emphasized Afro-Caribbean movements such as pelvic contractions, hip isolations and back undulation movements, without forgetting basic elements of modern dance such as strong floor work, breathing and contractions, thus fusing African-American materials, Euro-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans.
In addition to marking the celebration of Mercedes' centenary, the event aimed to bring together contemporary researchers and former students of Mercedes Baptista and Gilberto de Assis. We revere their memory through workshops, lectures and tables with the exponents of the black culture of today. Artists and academics who notably
One of the highlights of the event was the table AFRO-REFERENCED ANCESTRY AND CREATION, which Afro-Brazilian dance
Silvestre Technique also originated from a research developed on Afro-Brazilian dance
Paulo Melgaço
In this way, we strengthen the alliance with internationally renowned institutions of great relevance in the field of modern dance, such as the Dunham Institute (USA).
SCHEDULE
December 01, 2021 – Wednesday
from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – OPENING TABLE – Prof. Denise Pires (Magnificent Rector), Prof. Ivana Bentes (Pro-Rector of Extension), Prof. Katya Gualter (Director of the School of Physical Education and Sports), Prof. Alexandre Palma (Vice-Director of the School of Physical Education and Sports), Elizabeth Spinelli (President of the Dance Union), Prof. Waleska Britto (Head of the Department of Arts of the Body), Prof. Marcus Machado (Coordinator of the Grafias do Gesto Laboratory). Ceremonial: Larissa Maciel
from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – LECTURE – Speaker: Paulo Melgaço (BRAZIL) – Mediation: Sérgio Andrade
from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. – LECTURE: THE DANCE OF KATHERINE DUNHAM – Speaker: Joanna Dee Das (USA) – Mediation: Deborah Prates
from 4 pm to 6 pm – WORKSHOP: DUNHAM DANCE TECHNIQUE – Facilitator: Rachel Tavernier (USA) – Mediation: Maíra Carias
December 02, 2021 – Thursday
from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. – TABLE: CRADLE OF SAMBA
PERFORMANCE “SAMBA MEU” – Th Vieira
Participants: Dandara Ventapane, Helena Theodoro, Manoel Dionísio – Mediation: Xandy Carvalho
from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. – WORKSHOP: SILVESTRE TECHNIQUE - Facilitators: Deko Alves, Marcela Brasil, Rosangela Silvestre, Tamara William – Mediation: Marco Felippe
from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – ROUNDTABLE: TECHNIQUES AND EXPERIENCES OF AFRO-BRAZILIAN DANCE – Participants: Ágatha Oliveira, Edileuza Santos, Fernando Ferraz, Rodrigo Nunes – Mediation: Katya Gualter
from 6 pm to 7:20 pm – DOCUMENTARY: "30 DAYS – A CARNIVAL BETWEEN JOY AND DISILLUSIONMENT" - Direction and Screenplay: Valmir Moratelli
from 7:20 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – CONVERSATION CIRCLE WITH VALMIR MORATELLI – Mediation: Thuan Mozart
December 03, 2021 – Friday
from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. – WORKSHOP: AFRO-BRAZILIAN DANCE TECHNIQUE – MERCEDES BAPTISTA AND GILBERTO DE ASSIS – Facilitator: Sidney Gomes – Mediation: Nane Vieitas
from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – ROUNDTABLE: AFRO-REFERENCED ANCESTRY AND CREATION – Participants: Aline Valentim, Luiz Monteiro, Márcia Cabral, Tatiana Damasceno, Xandy Carvalho – Mediation: Frank Wilson
Click here to watch the lecture: LECTURE: BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS ENRICHES HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS – Speaker: Nelson Lima (BRAZIL) – Mediation: Ivy Brum
from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. – PANEL: GILBERTO DE ASSIS AND MERCEDES BAPTISTA: MEMORIES – Participants: Alexandre Pires, Carlos Negreiros, Charles Nelson, Isaura de Assis, Katia Bezerra, Manoel Dionísio, Ruth Rafael, Sidney Gomes, Silvia Lúcia Cardoso, Wanja Bastos – Mediation: Angela Brêtas
STAFF
Organizing Committee: Marcus Machado, Waleska Britto, Xandy Carvalho, Tatiana Damasceno, Larissa Maciel, Maíra Carias, Deborah Prates, Ivy Brum, Pedro Avlis, Marcos Felippe, Fabi Pinel, Wanja Bastos, Matheus Soli, Luan Gustavo and Nathália Leite
Producer:
Production Director: Waleska Britto and Marcus Machado
Event Production Coordination: Waleska Britto
Visual identity: Larissa Maciel, Deborah Prates and Ivy Brum
Technical support: Ivy Brum, Pedro Avlis, Luan Gustavo, Matheus Soli, Larissa Maciel, Maíra Carias, Deborah Prates, Nathália Leite, Fabi Pinel, Victor Garcia, Nane Vieitas
Realization: Grafias do Gesto Laboratory
Coordination: Prof. Marcus Machado and Prof. Waleska Britto
Collaboration: Institute for Dunham Technique Certification
Support: Pro-Rectory of Extension – PR5, School of Physical Education and Sports – EEFD and Department of Arts of the Body – DAC
Partnership: Graduate Program in Dance – PPGDAN, Center for Research in Afro-Brazilian Culture and Dance – NUDAFRO and Project in Africanity in Dance Education – PADE