“This piece arose out of questions we were asking ourselves: What do we feel in the face of others' suffering? What rapports do we build with others? How do we question these things and what do they tell us in reply? What really matters these days? What prompts us to react? Which is the greatest tragedy: 200,000 dead in an earthquake? 50,000 killed in a terrorist attack? 2 people kidnapped and murdered in front of television cameras? 5 deaths unreported due to a conflict in a small country? 1 condemned man on death row? The death of one's father, mother, daughter? How can this be measured behind all the statistics rolled out each evening? Always numbers. Yet more statistics. Is it still possible to get close to someone so different from oneself? Someone who is made of the same stuff as oneself? How can we break down the barriers and recreate a common ground? Could group work, creating communities, dancing possibly be a form of resistance?”

Lia Rodrigues

More information

http://mediatheque.cnd.fr/spip.php?page=mediatheque-numerique-ressource&id=PHO00003973

Updating: december 2010

Born in Brazil, Lia Rodrigues, after training as a classical ballet dancer in São Paulo, founded the Groupo Andança in 1977. Between 1980 and 1982 she resided in France where she joined the Maguy Marin company. On her return to Brazil, she founded her own company, the Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças.

In addition to producing all her shows, in 1992 Lia Rodrigues created the contemporary dance Festival, Panorama da Dança, which she directed until 2005. Since 2004 she has developed artistic and didactic actions in the Maré favela, where she created, in partnership with Redes da Maré, the Centro de Artes da Maré in 2009, and in 2012 the Escola livre de Danças da Maré. 

She was awarded by the French government the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2014, she was awarded the Prize of the Prince Claus Fund followed, in 2016, by the SACD choreographic prize / France.

Her recent creations include Pororoca (2009), Piracema (2011), Pindorama (2013) and Para que o céu não caia (To prevent the sky from falling) (2016).