Friday and Saturday nights are times when teenagers should let loose, have fun and forget about school for at least a few hours.
Well, what could be a better way to accomplish this than spending the night watching Brazilian Dance at Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium?

According to Cathy Pruzan, Grupo Corpo’s agent in the United States, Stanford Lively Arts booked Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theater for two nights, October 15th and 16th, after a successful debut two years ago. The performances are at Stanford University’s Memorial Auditorium, located on Serra St. at Galvez, at 8 p.m. both nights. The 2-hour performances include two 45-minute pieces and one 20-minute intermission. The Grupo Corpo set includes two dances, Nazareth and 21. Brazilian native, Rodrigo Pederneiras, choreographed both pieces.

Grupo Corpo is a Brazilian Dance company that focuses on many different genres of dance. “The choreography is always a blend including ballet, modern, indigenous movements of Brazil including samba, capaeira, and folk movements from different regions of Brazil,” Pruzan said.

The set is also very important in a Grupo Corpo production. “The elements of set, lights and costumes are critically important in the theater presentation of all Grupo pieces,” Pruzan said.

According to Grupo Corpo’s press releases, Nazareth was first performed in 1993. It’s a dance that focuses on the movement of the hips and its intent is to show the beauty and agility of the human hips. According to the press releases, the hips are one of the most sensual parts of the human body. The music is upbeat and the dancers dance to a mix of ballet, mambo and swing. While the dancers are dancing, large metal roses are suspended from the ceiling and hang in front of the backdrop. The dancers are wearing all gray, black and white costumes.

According to the press release, Nazareth was named after Ernesto Nazareth when Nazareth composer Jose Miguel Wisnik took Nazareth’s piano music and transformed it into a modern ensemble using keyboards and computers and melody mirroring. According to the Grupo Corpo program, melody mirroring is when one takes the music and plays it backwards in a computer and the result is the new piece.

21, the second and final performance of the night, uses color and contrast to make the performance entertaining. According to the program, the set consists of red lighting and yellow costumes. The score incorporates music from genres that include popular music, Eastern music, Gypsy music, and jazz music. The dance is mostly ballet, and the dancers are free to let their bodies interpret the music. Aside from the dancing and the music, during the performance, Japanese haikus are read. The overall environment is that of light and passion, according to the program.

This year, Pederneiras decided to try something new. He decided that he wanted to use some of the music of Cuban composer named Ernesto Leucana. This is different for Grupo Corpo because, according to Pruzan, “he [Pederneiras] usually commissions a contemporary Brazilian composer, working directly with them in structuring the new work.” Another difference with this new season is the dancers work more with partners and less on solos.

According to their press release, Grupo Corpo was started in 1975 in the home of Rodrigo and Paulo Pederneiras. They are brothers who both had the idea of starting a dance theater of purely Brazilian Dance. What resulted is a dance company filled with a mixture of ballet, modern dance, and Afro-Brazilian dance. Rodrigo Pederneiras became the choreographer and Paulo Pederneiras became the artistic director. Together, with help from their family, they have turned
Grupo Corpo into a world-renowned dance company.

According to Pruzan, Grupo Corpo usually consists of 20 dancers, and it is sponsored by Petrobas, a government Oil Company in Brazil.
So why should Paly students come watch Grupo Corpo on Friday and Saturday night? “Grupo Corpo is typically popular with people of all ages, both genders and races. The work is always uplifting; great music; amazing dancing, and there is something for everyone,” Pruzan said.

Event: Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theater

Date: Oct. 15-16

Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Memorial Auditorium

Tickets: Order them online at the Stanford Lively Arts’ homepage http://livelyarts.Stanford.edu or go to the ticket window at
Tressider Student Union on Stanford’s campus.

Prices: $44/$38/$26 and half price for 15 and younger