Afrodiasporic dances between the scene and the classroom: a practical-theoretical study on Cuban Modern Dance Technique

• Grant number: 21/09997-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Dance
• Principal Investigator: Mariana Baruco Machado Andraus
• Grantee: Lais Taufic Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Artes (IA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Cuban Modern Dance Technique was created and systematized in Cuban post-revolution period by dance artists Ramiro Guerra, Eduardo Rivera and Geraldo Lastra. Adopted as a national modern dance technique, it began to be taught in many artistic formation centers in the country, such as the National Art Schools and the University of Arts of Cuba. Both schools, the first for basic vocational education and the second for higher education, have units in different cities on the island and are responsible for training a large number of dance artists in Cuba. The creation of the Technique is linked to the emergence of the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba (the first modern dance group in the country), as it was, from the beginning and still today, the main body training practice worked by the group. In this research, we intend to study Cuban Modern Technique as a dance technique that was constituted from the relationship between Afro-Cuban dances, North American modern dance and flamenco, and developed as a fundamental dance thought for the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba. Based on a practical-theoretical study about the Technique and reflections on its appropriations and re-significations by the group Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, the project intends to elaborate a creative work in dance, having as its final format a video scene.