Violence is an element that remains present in the imaginary of Colombians. The productions that the Colombian theater companies brought to the 5th edition of the Mirada Ibero-American Performing Arts Festival are real-life manifestations of this imaginary. Nine shows making their Brazilian debut, and a scenographic installation, reflect the complexity of the contemporary processes and tensions of the South American country.

The honored country for this year’s Mirada opens up the festival on Wednesday, September 5, with Labio de Liebre (Hare-Lip), a show by the Teatro Petra company about the demand for the recognition of bodies and names of people who were murdered and disappeared, through the story of a murderer haunted by a family who was among the victims of his cruelty. The Mirada also presents Cuando Estallan Las Paredes (When the Walls Explode), which highlights all the contradictions of everyone involved in a terrorist attack. Both shows use humor and irony to address their themes.

Mapa Teatro is back in Brazil with La Despedida (The Farewell), a play about the end of the armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and with the installation Topografias: Utopias e Distopias (Topographies: Utopias and Dystopias), a drive-in movie theater located inside a jungle, as if the Colombian Amazon had been moved to the Communal Area at Sesc Santos.

The Colombians will also promote educational activities, in which the audience can participate in experiments, learn about creative processes, reflect on how theater productions are staged, talk with artists, curators, journalists and others.

One of the panels A Memória Presentificada (Memory in the Present) discusses the memory inherited from totalitarian governments in Latin America, features Fabio Rubiano Orjuela, director of Teatro Petra. Another panel, Insurgência do Corpo (Insurgency of the Body), which analyzes the body as a dramatic, political and poetic matter, features dancer Jorge Bernal and scenic artist Walter Antonio Cobos, along with artists from other countries.

Colombian and Brazilian rhythms will come together on Saturday, September 8, at the Mirada’s Meeting Place. With a research on the black bodies that spans over 15 years, Cia. Sansacroma will host a dance jam with the Afro-Colombian Sankofa Cultural Corporation, founded by choreographer Rafael Palacios. The program for the Meeting Place also features other Colombian attractions, such as the La Mambanegra orchestra, dancer Mauricio Flórez and contemporary jazz from Quizumba Latina.

André Venancio and Thais Amendola
Sesc Online Editors