Choreographer and Viver Brasil Co-Artistic Director Vera Passos presents a blend of traditional Afro-Brazilian and indigenous dances and rhythms combined with experimental choreography and storytelling. This work in progress is rooted in the spiritual traditions of Candomblé. Passos translates the dances and rhythms of Orixá Ossain (owner of the sacred leaves), Orixá Obaluaiyê (bearer of epidemic diseases), and the caboclos (indigenous Brazilian spirits) into her contemporary gestural language. Together with the curing wisdom of the rezadeiras (female healers who chant prayers to cure), drumming, and mythological stories, the movements call for communal balance called axé.
Funding for this program comes from the LA County Performing Arts Recovery Grant and the New England Foundation for the Arts: National Dance Project.