Day 263 Pittsburgh Dance Council-Grupo Corpo- Contemporary Brazilian Dance Company/Breezy and Fiery

I  love the ballet so  Grupo Corpo,  an internationally acclaimed Brazilian dance company that mixes ballet with other dance forms like samba, bossa nova, and modern dance piqued my interest. Pittsburgh Dance Council recently brought this company to the Byham Theater. The company preformed Suite Branca, a monochrome white dance piece and  Dance Sinfonica. This contemporary melting pot of dance styles  was a new visual experience that I would describe as cool and breezy, and then hot and fiery!

Suite Branca 

Reflection

Suite Branca (White Suite) choreography by Cassi Abranches, with all white costumes against a textured white back drop reminded me of the beautiful winter snow scenes that resulted from the US Arctic Blast this past week. The motion often seemed breezy and layered like the snow with multi leveled movement of floor rolling, jumping and lifts above the  shoulders, that crossed the length of the stage (watch here).

The  dance embraced  a variety of isolation movements initially to the sound of a base, symbol, and drums.  At times the music seemed to resemble something in the pop genre and at other times it seemed whimsical, especially when the dancers formed in a line pattern.  The constant athletic motion and the continual  weave of isolation dance techniques were both mesmerizing and beautiful just like a new snow on a windy winter day.

Dance Sinfonica

In contrast, Danca Sinfonica choreography by Rodrigo Pederneiras,  was warm as it popped with glowing red and black dress against a backdrop of over a 1000 snapshots of the companies 40+ years, and red velvet curtains.  In Dance Sinfonica  the movement was often  paired as in a ballet to the sounds of orchestra stings. There were injections of drum beats  and what  resembled  “tribal dance”  movements as coupled dancers  squatted across the stage (watch here).

Grupo Corpo in the shows, Suite Branca and Dancea Sinfonica, produced a unique mixture of dance and music which as I see it, emulated  snow and fire or the feeling of being cold and hot, yet both  brought the almost sold out theater to their feet!

The contemporary dance programming  by the Pittsburgh Dance Council will be something to keep in my survival tool box. For upcoming shows go to trustarts.org.

Spiritual Reflection
Praise the Lord from the earth,

you creatures of the ocean depths,

fire and hail, snow and clouds,

wind and weather that obey him, (Psalm 148:7,8)

Other Sources

 Pittsburgh Dance Council https://trustarts.org/pct_home/events/series/pittsburgh-dance-council

Grupo Corpo  http://www.grupocorpo.com.br/en/company