Grupo Corpo (Brazil)

Dança Sinfônica & Gira

February 28 & 29, 2020 | 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Running time:
Dança Sinfônica – 42 minutes
Intermission – 20 minutes
Gira – 40 minutes

Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15pm each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby. Host Janet Smith (Georgia Straight) will moderate a discussion with Pedro Pederneiras (Grupo Corpo Co-founder).

The first DanceHouse One pre-show event will take place on the Friday night in Playhouse Salons B & C from 7pm to 8pm. Purchase your membership here or find out more here.

Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night in the Playhouse Salons.

In their third presentation with DanceHouse, the Brazilian juggernaut Grupo Corpo channels the metaphysical with their new work Gira. Choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras has infused his style with movement idioms inspired by Afro-Brazilian rituals. The company’s deep research into the cosmology and rites of Umbanda (the most widespread Brazilian-born religion) creates a new kind of performance aesthetic, possessed by a ripe sensuality and cathartic power.

With music from São Paulo band Méta Méta, the dancers invoke a state of near-transcendental ecstasy, opening up a pathway from one plane of existence to the next. The corporeal world melds with the divine in a transformative journey of rare exaltation.

While in Vancouver, the company will offer masterclasses on Thursday, February 27.

“Inspired by Afro-Brazilian religious rituals, Gira is carnal, raw and more than a little dangerous.” –Arts File

“To watch the piece felt a bit like being privileged to observe secret, sacred rituals and ancient rites anonymously, as if through a peephole… irreverent, electrifying, sometimes aggressive, otherworldly and, when done right, something that can transport you (even if only emotionally or sensually) to a place of purity and transcendence…” – Broadway World

Production Sponsor

Consulate General of Brazil in Vancouver

With Support From

In the Trench Productions

Grupo Corpo. Gira © Jose Luiz Pederneiras.