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HISTORIC

The contemporary Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo, founded by Paulo Pederneiras in 1975, in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, debuted its first work, Maria Maria, the very next year. Featuring original music by Milton Nascimento, a script by Fernando Brandt and choreography by the Argentine Oscar Araiz, the ballet would go on to spend six years on stage and tour fourteen countries. But even though the piece was an immediate critical, popular and commercial success, the group´s distinctive artistic identity, its long-term popularity and its artistic achievements have been the fruits of a long, arduous journey. As a result, the group started operating in its own premises as of 1978.

While the success of Maria Maria was still reverberating throughout Brazil and in various European and Latin American countries, Grupo Corpo (literally Body Group in English) never stopped working, staging no less than six productions between 1976 and 1982. In the first phase of the group´s existence, the influence of Araiz, who in 1980 would write O Último Trem, was evident in varying degrees in the dance troupe’s  work. However, the company´s distinctive features and personality were chiefly molded by Paulo Pederneiras, the man responsible for sets and lighting the group´s performances and its artistic direction and the dancer Rodrigo Pederneiras, who left the stage in 1981 to assume the role of full-time choreographer.

In 1985, the company launched what would be its second great success: Prelúdios, a theatrical piece incorporating twenty-four Chopin preludes interpreted by pianist Nelson Freire. The show debuted to public and critical acclaim at the First International Dance Festival of Rio de Janeiro and would cement the group´s reputation in the world of contemporary Brazilian dance.

Grupo Corpo then entered a new phase, establishing its own unique theatrical language and choreography. Starting with an erudite repertoire featuring the works of Richard Strauss, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Edward Elgar, among others, the company began combining classical technique with a contemporary re-reading of popular Brazilian dance forms. This would become the group´s trademark.

In 1989 the company debuted Missa do Orfanato, a complex theatrical reading of  Mozart´s Missa Solemnis k.139. Almost operatic in dimensions, this ballet became such an esthetic triumph that, nearly two decades later, it remains in the company´s repertoire.

The group underwent a radical transformation three years later with the production of 21, a ballet which confirmed the uniqueness of Rodrigo Pederneiras´s choreography and the unmistakable persona of the dance troupe. Utilizing the singular sounds of Brazilian instrumental group Uakti, as well as ten themes composed by Marco Antônio Guimarães, 21 leaves behind the group´s preoccupation with technical form and sees it taking apart melodies and rhythms in order to explore their underlying ideas. The decision to once again use specifically composed scores – a mark of the group´s first three shows in the 1970s – allowed it to further explore the language of popular Brazilian dance.

In the work that followed, Nazareth (1993), Rodrigo Pederneiras´s fascination with traversing the worlds of both popular and erudite music found a perfect opportunity for fuller expression. Inspired by the verbal games of Brazilian literary icon Machado de Assis (1839-1908) and by the works of Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934), a seminal figure in the formation of Brazilian popular music, the work was scored by composer and literary theorist José Miguel Wisnik. Though built on a solid, classical foundation, the production brought together in good-humored fashion the light-hearted and sensual elements inherent Brazilian popular dances.

The partnership of Grupo Corpo with contemporary authors has been such a success that scores composed especially for the company have become the norm, and each score has inspired a new creation. An exception came in 2004 with the production of Lecuona, a work that drew on thirteen love songs by the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963) and in which Rodrigo Pederneiras demonstrated his gift for the creation of pas- de- deux.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Grupo Corpo intensified its international touring. Between 1996 and 1999, it was the resident dance company of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France. Several of the group´s creations (Bach, Parabelo and Benguelê) were first staged in Europe over this period.

Today, having created more than 40 choreographies, the Brazilian dance company gives performances in places as distinctive as Iceland and South Korea, the United States and Lebanon, Italy and Singapore, the Netherlands and Israel, France and Japan, Canada and Mexico.

The minimalism of Philip Glass, the vigorous pop and urban sounds of Arnaldo Antunes the primordial experimentalism of Tom Zé, the African sensibility of João Bosco, the metaphysical verse of Luís de Camões and Gregório de Mattos with the light touch of Caetano Veloso and Wisnik, the rootsy modernity of Lenine, the sound diversity of Moreno, Domenico and Kassin, the contemporary vision of Martin Codax’s medieval songs by Carlos Núñez and José Miguel Wisnik, the pop style of Samuel Rosa, the genius musical of Gilberto Gil, Grupo Corpo has drawn on all of these elements and more to produce shows of a very diverse character – cerebral, cosmopolitan, primitive, existential, tough – while always keeping in sight the company´s distinctive traits.

 

ESTANCIA [2023] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Alberto Ginastera

GIL REFAZENDO [2022] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Gilberto Gil

PRIMAVERA [2021] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Palavra Cantada

GIL [2019] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Gilberto Gil

GIRA [2017] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Metá Metá

DANÇA SINFÔNICA [2015] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Marco Antônio Guimarães

SUÍTE BRANCA [2015] • choreography: Cassi Abranches • music: Samuel Rosa

TRIZ [2013] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • música: Lenine

SEM MIM [2011] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Carlos Núñez and José Miguel Wisnik

ÍMÃ [2009] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: +2 [Moreno, Domenico, Kassin]

BREU [2007] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Lenine

ONQOTÔ [2005] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik

LECUONA [2004] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Ernesto Lecuona

SANTAGUSTIN [2002] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Tom Zé and Gilberto Assis

O CORPO [2000] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Arnaldo Antunes

BENGUELÊ [1998] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: João Bosco

PARABELO [1997] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Tom Zé and Zé Miguel Wisnik

BACH [1996] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • música: Marco Antônio Guimarães

SETE OU OITO PEÇAS PARA UM BALLET [1994] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Philip Glass and Uakti

NAZARETH [1993] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: José Miguel Wisnik

21 [1992] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Marco Antônio Guimarães | Uakti

VARIAÇÕES ENIGMA [1991] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Edward Elgar

TRÊS CONCERTOS [1991] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Georg Philip Telemann

A CRIAÇÃO [1990] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Franz Joseph Haydn

MISSA DO ORFANATO [1989] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • música: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

MULHERES [1988] • choreography: Susanne Linke • music: Krysztof Penderecki

UAKTI [1988] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Marco Antônio Guimarães

RAPSÓDIA [1988] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Johannes Brahms

SCHUMANN BALLET [1988] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Robert Schumann

PAS DU PONT [1987] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • música: Heitor Villa-Lobos

DUO [1987] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Heitor Villa-Lobos

CANÇÕES [1987] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Richard Strauss

CARLOS GOMES SONATA [1986] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Antônio Carlos Gomes

BACHIANA [1986] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Heitor Villa-Lobos

PRELÚDIOS [1985] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Frédéric Chopin

SONATA [1984] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Serguei Prokofiev

NOTURNO [1982] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Alberto Nepomuceno

REFLEXOS [1982] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Henrique Oswald | Bruno Kiefer

INTERÂNEA [1981] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Marlos Nobre

TRÍPTICO [1981] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Wagner Tiso

ÚLTIMO TREM [1980] • choreography: Oscar Araiz • music: Milton Nascimento | Fernando Brant

CANTARES [1978] • choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras • music: Marco Antônio Araújo

MARIA MARIA [1976] • choreography: Oscar Araiz • music: Milton Nascimento | Fernando Brant

Grupo Corpo on the road

ALEMANHA   Aschaffenburg   Baden-Baden   Bonn   Essen   Frankfurt   Friedrichshafen   Fulda   Fürth   Hannover   Heilbronn   Karlsruhe  Leverkunsen   Ludwigsburg   Ludwigshafen   Neuss   Recklinghausen   Remscheid   Schweinfurt   Velbert   Weimar   Wiesbaden   Wolfsburg   ARGENTINA   Buenos Aires   La Plata   AUSTRÁLIA   Perth   ÁUSTRIA   Innsbruck   Graz   Saint Pölten   BÉLGICA   Antuérpia   Bruges   Bruxelas   Gent   Turnhout   BRASIL   Aracaju   Atibaia   Belém   Belo Horizonte   Blumenau   Brasília   Caxias do Sul   Coronel Fabriciano   Cuiabá   Curitiba   Florianópolis   Fortaleza   Goiânia   Governador Valadares   Ilhéus   Ipatinga   Itabira   João Pessoa   Joinville   Juiz de Fora   Londrina   Maceió   Manaus   Mariana   Montes Claros   Natal   Ouro Preto   Paulínia   Pelotas   Ponta Grossa   Porto Alegre   Recife   Ribeirão Preto   Rio de Janeiro   Sabará   Salvador   Santos   São João del Rei   São Luis   São Paulo   Teresina   Timóteo   Uberaba   Uberlândia   Vitória   CANADÁ   Assomption   Baie-Comeau   Banff   Montréal   Ottawa   Québec   Sherbrooke   Vancouver   Vernon   Toronto   CHILE   Santiago do Chile   CHINA   Macau   COLÔMBIA   Bogotá   Cáli   CORÉIA DO SUL   Seul   COSTA RICA   San José   EQUADOR   Guayacquil   Quito   ESPANHA   Barcelona   Bilbao   Gijon   Granada   Las Palmas   Madri   Oviedo   Palma de Maiorca   San Sebastian   Santander   Valencia   Valladolid   ESCÓCIA   Edinburgh   ESLOVÊNIA   Liubliana   ESTADOS UNIDOS   Amherst   Anchorage   Ann Arbor   Arcata   Austin   Beckett   Boston   Chicago   Cleveland   College Park   Colorado Springs   Columbus   Dallas   Davis   Elmira   Fairfax   Fayetteville   Houston   Humboldt   Iowa City  Key West   Long Beach   Los Angeles   Miami   Minneapolis   Nashville   New Orleans   Newark   Nova York   Oswego   Palo Alto   Park City   Philadelphia   Pittsburgh   Portland   Purchase   Richmond   Riverside   Saint Louis   San Diego   Santa Barbara   Santa Fe  Seattle   Stanford   Tucson   Tulsa   Washington   West Palm Beach   FINLÂNDIA   Kuópio   FRANÇA   Aix-en-Provence   Albi   Alès  Annecy   Annemasse   Arcachon   Bayonne   Belfort  Biarritz   Cannes   Chambéry   Dijon   Gap   Grenoble   La Rochelle   Le Creusot   Lyon   Martigues   Massy   Montpellier  Mulhouse   Nanterre   Narbonne   Paris   Perpignan   Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines   Sète   Sochaux   Roubaix   Rueil-Malmaison   Tarbes   Toulouse   Valence   Valenciennes   GRÉCIA   Atenas   HOLANDA   Den Haag   HUNGRIA   Budapeste   INGLATERRA   Birmingham   Bradford   Brighton   Epson   High Wycombe   Hull   Londres   Manchester    Nottingham   Paignton   Plymouth   Salford   Sheffield   Skegness   Southampton   IRLANDA   Belfast   ISLÂNDIA   Reykjavik   ISRAEL   Jerusalém   Tel Aviv   ITÁLIA   Bolonha   Brescia   Cremona   Ferrara  Milão   Modena   Reggio Emilia   Spoleto   Turim   Viareggio   Vicenza   JAPÃO   Tóquio   LÍBANO   Baalbeck   LUXEMBURGO   Luxemburgo   Wiltz   MÉXICO    Cidade do México   Guadalajara   Guanajuato    Monterey    Puebla    Zacatecas   NOVA ZELÂNDIA   Wellington   PAÍS DE GALES   Cardiff   PORTO RICO   San Juan   PORTUGAL   Lisboa   Porto   RÚSSIA   Moscou   SINGAPURA   Singapura   SUIÇA   Baden   Basel   Fribourg  Lugano   Monthey   Schaffhausen  Winterthur   Zug   Zurich   TAILÂNDIA   Bangkok   TAIWAN   Taipei   URUGUAI   Montevidéu   VENEZUELA   Caracas

Tecnologia por André Lug