Elements for a history of sound technique in the performing arts Survey and analysis of the contribution of sound designer and sound engineer Flávia Calabi to the São Paulo theater scene between 1978 and 2012.

• Grant number: 25/00802-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Rafaella Uhiara
• Grantee: Eduardo Duarte Joly
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/15032-4 - Sound archives of theater: implementation of a basis for research on the sound dimension in performing arts, AP.JP

Abstract

"Grease". This term, in the informal vocabulary of the theater, designates the professionals responsible for the "manual technical" areas of the shows, usually segregated from the professionals of the "creative art": directing, acting and dramaturgy. This research is dedicated to the history of this invisible category by studying the trajectory of one character: Flávia Calabi, a sound designer and sound engineer who transformed the understanding and applications of sound techniques and sound capture for shows. Her contribution has not yet been properly acknowledged or recorded, but I can hear Flávia's story, as well as those of many sound professionals in the theater who preceded me, through oral history, among technicians, in aisles, houses and dirty, dusty operating booths. His trajectory will be used as a guiding thread to gather elements that make it possible to construct a history of sound technique in São Paulo theater during his period of activity: between 1978 and 2012. In addition to interviews with audio professionals who knew her, as well as family and friends, this research will be based on a survey and analysis of the evolution of sound equipment used in the theater during the period, looking mainly at the technical and technological innovations introduced by Calabi in the media where she worked. The study of these elements will serve as a basis for understanding the importance of this character in the advancement of sound techniques.