QUASAR CIA DE DANçA

IT COULD ONLY BE WITH YOU

AUCH BARFUß KöNNEN SIE ZAUBERN
Unendlich geschmeidig und sanft, verhalten und im Tempo moderat, dann
dramatisch und explosiv. leicht rhetorisch und extrovertiert wie ein
Existenzialisten-Happening im Pariser Künsltercafé. Technisch
vielfach vom klassischen Tanz inspiriert, dann doch näher am Jazztanz
oder auch gedämpft modernistisch. ....
Mit Tom Jobim und Elis Regina trafen sich damals zwei Legenden
brasilianischer Musik. Die Choreografie, barfuß und in halb
elfengleichen, halb traumurbanen hellen Kostümen, setzt die Platte in
einen Tanz um, der die Sinnlichkeit der Musik potenziert und
dramatisiert. Kein Wunder, dass so Fussball zelebriert, wer so singt
und wer so tanzt.
Frankfurter Neue Presse, 28. Juni 2006

WIPP DEN BOSSA NOVA
Dieses Mitwippen nimmt der Choreograf Henrique Rodovalho auf. Aus
Bewegungen, selbstverständlich und selbstvergessen wie Luftholen oder
Blinzeln, entstehen komplexe Körperbilder, in denen Leichtigkeit und
Gehalt keine Gegensätze sind, sondern mit- und nebeneinander ein
Ganzes ergeben, so wie auch die Musik ...
Ihre enorme Leuchtkraft haben sie sich bei ihrem zweiten Gastspiel
erhalten. Als Quasar und als Compagnie.
Frankfurter Rundschau, 27. Juni 2006

MIT DIR UND OHNE DICH
Henrique Rodovalho ... hat vielleicht die einzig mögliche Form
gefunden, zu dieser Musik aus melancholischen Melodien und langsam
schwingendem Rhythmus einen Tanz zu schaffen, der sich nicht von den
Tönen verschlingen läßt. Man sieht den acht Tänzern keine Emotionen
an. Als seine sie selber die Töne, physikalische Ereignisse, nur Form
und Bewegung im Raum.
Spektakulär sieht nur die Luftrolle aus: Aus dem Stand, im Fliegen,
dreht sich der Tänzer seitlich um die eigene Achse und landet
geräuschlos auf allen vieren. Ansonsten herrscht bei der für ihr
akrobatisches Können berühmten Gruppe und dem Choreographen,
.... vornehme Zurückhaltung gegenüber zur Schau gestellter
Virtuosität.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27. Juni 2006

ZWITSCHERND IN GUMMISTIEFELN
Der Kontrast könnte nicht größer sein: einmal Tanz wie feinstes,
hauchdünnes Batistgewebe, wie in Quasar Cia de Danca aus Brasilien
zeigt. ...
Wenn die Mitglieder von Quasar Cia de Danca sich bewegen ist es, als
fahre Energie in einen Körperteil hinein und suche sich von dort
blitzschnell ihren Weg, wie Elektrizität in einem leitenden Material.
Unversehens entweicht sie dann, um später anderswo wieder
einzudringen. So entstehen eruptive Bewegungswellen, die zum Ende hin
sanft auslaufen. ...
Wunderbar beschreiben sie Spiralen mit Battements und weichen,
akrobatischen Sprüngen aus dem Streetdance. Einmal zeigen sie ihr
Können als Solisten, gefangen in einm Lichtkreis. Zum Schluss finden
sich doch Paare zusammen, die sich auch berühren. Gleichmäßig
pulsieren jetzt die Bewegungswellen und fließen ineinander.
Stuttgarter Zeitung, 26. Juni 2006

EINE STERNSTUNDE FüR DEN GETANZTEN BOSSA NOVA
Kunstvoll, kunstfertig und asthetisch - diese Attribute sagen viel
über die deutsche Erstaufführung ....
perfekt bewegen sich die acht Tänzer auf der Bühne zu unvergleichlich
guten Liedern und Melodien ...
Wellenartig und harmonisch übersetzten die Tänzer den Bossa Nova.
Meist in der Gruppe, in aber nur scheinbar, uniformen
Figurenbewegungen, präsentieren sie die brasilianische Seele
schlechthin ...
Es war ein Augenschmaus, wie diese Hommage tänzerisch komponiert
wurde. In Lichtfeldern wurde jedem einzelnen Ton gefrönt und es
entstand die perfekte Vereinigung von Bewegung und Musik.
Bietigheimer Zeitung, 23. Juni 2006

MELANCHOLISCHE ELFEN DES BOSSA-NOVA
Die Bewegungssprache des Kompanie-Leiters Rodovalho vereint Ideen aus
vielen Stilen zu einem kaum je unterbrochenen, ruhigen Fluss von
großer Schönheit. Dessen wechselnde Betriebstemperatur misst sich
nicht in äußerlichen Effekten, sondern schwillt langsam, kaum
merklich auf und ab. Mit seinen nahtlosen Übergängen, mit einer
überhaupt ständig fließenden Choreografie schmiegt sich Rodovalho in
die sinnlichen, gar nicht so schnellen Rhythmen des Bossa-Nova und in
die Weichheit des brasilianischen Portugiesisch. Er integriert
Material aus dem Modern Dance und zeitgenössische Spielarten in sein
sinnliches, körperbetontes Idiom - Forsythesche Hüftverschiebungen
fließen mit aufreizendem Disco-Tanz ineinander, selbst ein Moonwalk
wird in eleganter Geschmeidigkeit absolviert, und manche Solos finden
fast vollkommen im Sitzen statt. ..
Vielleicht überrascht es einfach, im brasilianischen Tanz einmal
nicht der Lebensfreude der Südamerkikaner zu begegnen, sondern ihrer
Melancholie.
tanznetz.de, 23. Juni 2006

“PIMENTINHA” IN DANCE
The new production by Quasar Dance Co. opens today at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro. “It could only be with you”, which focuses on the album entitled Elis and Tom, which unites the distinct voice of Elis Regina and the compositions, arrangements and superlative piano playing of Tom Jobim, has no foreseeable opening date for Goiânia yet.

Parts of the show which is choreographed by Henrique Rodovalho were presented Saturday and Sunday in the theater of the Faculdade Cambury between two titles (Quarteto and Saga) of the Cia. Sociedade Masculina, from São Paulo. “It could only be with you” was presented in its entirety last night, for friends and guests, at an open rehearsal in the Espaço Quasar, in Goiânia.

Henrique explains that the idea emerged because of an invitation from Banco de Brasil. Quasar was chosen to open the festival of dance “Em 4 Movimentos” in Rio. Besides the Goiânia company, theater director Eduardo Wotzik shows legends and fables from five continents in order to debate ethics through dance.

Native of Brasíla, presently living in Germany, Catharina Gadelha weaves commentaries about the latest anonymous victims of violence in “Esquecidos”. Flávia Tápias, in “Cinco Coreografias para um Corpo”, stages a sequence of different choreographies. During the intervals intellectuals discuss aspects linked to the body of the ballerina. One of the five choregraphies, “Semelhante”, was written by Henrique Rodovalho. “The requirement of the festival is that the production of the dance troup be original” says Henrique who has recently parted company with Hendrik Leorenzen, of German origin. They had been artistic partners since 1997. Hendrik is responsible for the soundtrack for Quasar’s performance. “The choreography was based upon the music. Essentially, Brazilian music. All of the complete songs from an entire disk. It is not a process of creation used very much in contemporary dance,” Henrique explains.

In “Choreography to Be Heard”, for example, conversations, dialogues and testimonies from various characters were inserted in parts of the soundtrack. Reworked fragments with electronic portions are common in the presentations of Quasar. Not so this time. “It could only be with you” represents, according to Henrique, a pause in relation to the previous choreography. “If we debated relations in dance in O+, we want to simply dance this time. Its a truce.”

The album Elis and Tom came to the fore by coincidence, at a time when there are still echoes of the record’s 30th anniversary commemorations. “My folks had the record. It is part of my childhood. I bought it when it was re-released on audio CD and DVD. It awakened my emotional memory,” he says. Soon afterwards a DVD was released with an interview with the singer on the “Ensaio” progam of TV Cultura.

Elis Regina’s 60th birthday on the 17th of March was also celebrated with fondness. Did “It could only be with you” enter the list of memorable dates? Henrique accepts the thesis of collective memory as fact. “There is no doubt that the moment is favorable. Mainly due to this, the show is advertised a lot all over Rio. The responsibility is tremendous here in Tom Jobin’s own city.”

Henrique was thinking about the choreography with a bit of anguish, even before having received the invitation from Banco do Brasil. The duplicity embedded in Elis and Tom, in a certain way reflect a duplicity which involves the personal and artistic side of the choreographer. “The weight of the music generates traps related to the obvious. We did daily exercises to avoid excesses.”

Henrique considers the movements of “It could...” abstract, in a universe of complexities which include logic-mathematical thought. He shows interest in the vision of the audience which will superimpose, in different ways, the emotions which will pulsate in the music in the songs of Elis with the gestures of the dancers. After all, there is no series of gestures which can interpret “you who are made of blue, let me live in your blue” from the lyrics of “It could...”.

Rationality meets the unexpected range of feelings that flow from the mere mention of Elis Regina’s name in a confluence of relations that emmanate from each person who watches the finished work. “I hope that everyone realizes the high degree of difficulty we experienced and the high degree of quality we developed, ”remarks Henrique.

Goiânia audiences hope to have the opportunity to appreciate the homage with all the kindness prompted by Quasar’s project and name.
Article by Adalto Alves Source: DM Revista (Cultural supplement of Diário da Manhã, a Goiânia daily), April 6, 2005

QUASAR LEAVES GESTURE FLOATING IN THE AIR
"It Could Only Be With You", a new choreography by Henrique Rodovalho for his company Quasar, of Goiânia, opened last Wednesday at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil of Rio. All the scenes were inspired by the songs from the album "Elis and Tom" and the performance continues with the characteristic exploration of gestures marked by restlessness while at the same time showing the serenity of a path that was found.
Everything is white – white on white, from the costumes to the sets. Translucid or opaque, fluent or corpulent, the costumes created by Cássio Brasil are shells or skins which are superimposed on real body skin, intensifying the presence of certain surfaces, revealing their shapes.
The last choreography of the group, "O+" (2004), displayed a humor which was almost child-like, crushed in the critique of the dance scene and distant from the previous creations where the force of movement and the reduction of the means were the key to things. Last year Rodovalho created "Bossa" for the Balé da Cidade de São Paulo, almost a rehearsal of what was to become this new performance.
From electronic and/or percussive music which was the trait of the Quasar’s performances, Rodovalho migrated to the bossa nova, with a renewed consciousness of its meaning, almost 50 years after "Chega de Saudade".
If in the music there is sophisticated drama and an implicit narrative, virtually a way of civilization which Brazil invented, in the dance it is just the opposite.
"Living in Loneliness is Sadness" – and two dancers begin, each one in his isolated area, dancing in half-light. One exception: a remarkable duet to the sound of "Retrato em Branco e Preto", one body passes the other, both try to entwine, but the focus is on the emptiness that seems to have installed itself between them. "Já conheço as pedras do caminho...", and the movements are fragmented, each member of the bodies moving independently, but it is the lack of conclusion of the movements, the weight of gestures left hanging in space, the negative, in a nutshell, which mark the slipping away of time in the relationships.
During the entire performance the dramaturgy stems from gestures like these. There is only one instant, when each dancer leaves the scene after peering into the audience, that this tone falls apart, somewhat breaking that which was previously assumed. Each interpreter has his own accent and leaves his mark in the air.
The last word is "nothing" (from "Inútil Paisagem"), which echoes on the empty stage. Figures and white backdrop merge, but the emptiness overflows with melancholy but also happiness, now included in each space which expands and distances itself from us.
The Quasar presentation begins the series named "4 Movements of Banco do Brasil". There will be three more presentations: "5 Choreographers and 1 Body", by the group Tápias, "Éticas", by the Centro de Investigação Teatral-Movimento, and "Esquecidos", a solo performance by Catherina Gadelha.
article by Inês Bogéa Source: Folha de São Paulo, April 9, 2005

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