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A company responsible for writing an important part of the history of dance in Brazil is being honored starting on Thursday (2/07). Grupo de Dança Raízes – the only stable company in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between 1983 and 1990 – will have its history remembered with pomp this weekend.

The tribute for the 25 years that passed since the beginning of the company’s career in 1983, in Caxias do Sul, serves as inspiration for a series of debates and round tables about the preservation of the memory of Brazilian dance. The subject will be discussed in three debate spaces: Memória: história em movimento(“Memory: history in movement”), with Helena Katz, João Ignácio Pires Lucas, Guadalupe Bolzani, Evaldo Kuyaya and Antônio Feldman; Acervos e registros: meios e modos(“Collections and records: means and modes”), with Patrícia de Rossi, Christine Greiner, Nilva Rech Stédile, Juventino Dal Bó and Jair Moraes; and Bens culturais imateriais: preservação e valorização(“Intangible cultural assets: conservation and enhancement”, with Thereza Rocha, Marcos Bragato, Paulo Gedoz de Carvalho, Ana Mery Sehbe de Carli and Luis Arrieta.

“The discussions are important in an event like this one because they also work as kind of knowledge production. The information is spread. And also this is a kind of historical record”, analyzes Sigrid Nora, dance researcher and the event’s curator. The tribute is being organized by the Caxias do Sul University’s Programa Ciências e Artes do Corpo(“Body Arts and Sciences Program”).

As important as the tribute to Grupo Raízes itself is the process of historical recovery Sigrid started during her masters studies, in 2001. The researcher was able to bring together billboards, pictures, programs, soundtracks and video records of all the company’s shows. With the support of a municipal incentive law, all videos in VHS format were transferred to DVD. The result of all that work can be seen in the exhibition Um tempo em movimentos (“A time in movement”), which is also part of the tribute’s program. The exhibition audience can also see parts of the company repertory in a video produced specially for the occasion.

Grupo Raízes2 / Foto divulgação

“All this recovery is a collective contribution. It´s an important event because it´s about one more piece in the construction of dance history that becomes available. Knowing our past is essential to understand the present and think about the future”, analyzes Sigrid.

The nostalgic atmosphere is completed with the commemorative show Raízes: paisagens da memória, which will bring together former dancers of the group in excerpts of some choreographies of the group’s repertory.

Check out the schedule and venues:

From July 3 to 30
Um tempo em movimentos exhibition
Galeria Municipal de Arte Gerd Borhein da Casa da Cultura Percy Vargas de Abreu e Lima

Friday and Saturday (3 and 4/07)
Raízes: paisagens da memória
Teatro Pedro Parenti (Rua Doutor Montaury 1.333, Centro. Phone: 54 3221-3697).
20h30

Debates:

Saturday (4/07)
Memória: história em movimento
10h
Teatro Pedro Parenti
Acervos e Registros: meios e modos
14h
Teatro Pedro Parenti

Sunday (5/07)
Bens culturais imateriais: preservação e valorização
10h
Teatro Pedro Parenti