Type: Dance Work / Piece · Production
Date: 1979
Context: Dance production presented in the context of the 15th Bienal de São Paulo
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Institution / Organisation: Bienal de São Paulo
Role: Performer
Participants: Sônia Mota — choreographer; Marco Antonio Carvalho — stage and musical director; Grupo Andança — performers
Status: Historical Record — documented
Record / Description
Três Ensaios (e o resto) was a dance production created for Grupo Andança and presented in São Paulo in 1979 in the context of the 15th Bienal de São Paulo. Historical and scholarly documentation identifies Sônia Mota as choreographer and places the work’s premiere on 6 November 1979 at the Pavilhão do Parque Ibirapuera. The surviving programme identifies Marco Antonio Carvalho as responsible for stage direction and musical direction and identifies Ricardo Viviani among the performers of Grupo Andança.
The Work / Creation
Três Ensaios (e o resto) was choreographed by Sônia Mota for Grupo Andança. The surviving programme identifies the production as a dance spectacle with a duration of approximately 90 minutes. It also identifies Marco Antonio Carvalho as responsible for stage direction and musical direction.
Creative Team
Choreography: Sônia Mota
Stage Direction: Marco Antonio Carvalho
Musical Direction: Marco Antonio Carvalho
Music: Keith Jarrett — The Köln Concert
Duration: 90 minutes
Performers / Collaborators
Grupo Andança: Ismael Ivo, Sônia Galvão, Calu Ramos, Solange Caldeira, Ricardo, Cláudio, Ary Buccione and Tico.
The surviving programme identifies Ricardo by first name within the listed Grupo Andança cast. The full programme should be retained as the primary source for this identification and for future clarification of the complete names of performers currently listed only by first name.
Performance / Presentation
6 November 1979 — XV Bienal de São Paulo
Pavilhão do Parque Ibirapuera
São Paulo, Brazil
Historical documentation identifies 6 November 1979 as the premiere of Três Ensaios (e o resto) at the XV Bienal de São Paulo, in the Pavilhão do Parque Ibirapuera.
Artistic Context
Três Ensaios (e o resto) belongs to the contemporary dance environment of São Paulo in the late 1970s and to the professional activity of Grupo Andança. The production was choreographed by Sônia Mota and presented a group of performers including Ismael Ivo and Ricardo Viviani.
The production was presented in the context of the 15th Bienal de São Paulo, held from 3 October to 16 December 1979. The official Bienal documentation describes the 15th Bienal as the “Bienal das Bienais”, providing a broad historical and international context for the event.
Relationship / Professional Collaboration
This production documents an early professional collaboration between Ricardo Viviani and Sônia Mota, who is identified in the surviving programme as the choreographer of Três Ensaios (e o resto).
The programme also documents Ismael Ivo as a member of Grupo Andança in the production. Ricardo Viviani’s later professional collaboration with Ivo should be treated as a distinct subsequent relationship.
Viviani’s first professional collaboration with Ismael Ivo dates from 1996, when he joined the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar as a dancer in Ivo’s company. This later period represents a substantial continuation of the professional relationship documented here, but should not be conflated with the 1979 production.
In 2003, Viviani began choreographing for opera productions at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar. This represents a further development of his professional practice, moving from his earlier work as a dancer in Ivo’s company into choreography for opera.
Primary Source / Documentation
The principal surviving documentary evidence currently available for this record is the original programme. The programme identifies Sônia Mota as choreographer, Marco Antonio Carvalho as responsible for stage and musical direction, the Grupo Andança performers, and the production duration of 90 minutes. It also provides biographical information about Sônia Mota and documents her professional activity in Brazil and abroad.
Additional scholarly documentation is provided by Sílvia Maria Geraldi’s Raízes da teatralidade na dança cênica: recortes de uma tendência paulistana, a doctoral study at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas documenting and reconstructing the production of Sônia Mota and Célia Gouvêa during the 1970s and 1980s. The research brings together historical documents, photographs, press material and interviews and is therefore particularly relevant to the reconstruction of this period.
The programme is particularly significant because it provides direct contemporary evidence for the production credits and cast. It should therefore take precedence over earlier assumptions concerning individual participation or roles.
Archival Material
1979 — Original programme for Três Ensaios (e o resto), including production credits, cast and biographical information on Sônia Mota
1979 — Photographs of the production / performance
2009 — Sílvia Maria Geraldi, Raízes da teatralidade na dança cênica: recortes de uma tendência paulistana, doctoral thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Contribution / Significance
Três Ensaios (e o resto) documents an early point in Ricardo Viviani’s professional trajectory and a significant early collaboration with Sônia Mota. The surviving programme also places Viviani within Grupo Andança alongside Ismael Ivo and other dancers active in São Paulo’s contemporary dance environment in 1979.
The work is also significant within the longer professional network documented elsewhere in this archive, connecting early São Paulo collaborations with later work involving Sônia Mota, Ismael Ivo and other artists and institutions.
Assessment / Relevance
The original programme substantially strengthens the documentary status of this record by providing contemporary evidence for the choreographer, direction, musical direction, cast and duration of the production. Additional historical research provides further evidence for the work’s title, premiere date and venue and places the production within the wider development of São Paulo contemporary dance in the period.
Keywords
Três Ensaios (e o resto), Sônia Mota, Ismael Ivo, Grupo Andança, Ricardo Viviani, Marco Antonio Carvalho, Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert, Bienal de São Paulo, 15th Bienal, contemporary dance, São Paulo, dance, choreography, 1979
External Links
15th Bienal de São Paulo — Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
15th Bienal de São Paulo — Official Catalogue, 1979
Sílvia Maria Geraldi — Raízes da teatralidade na dança cênica: recortes de uma tendência paulistana
Helena Katz — Dance chronology and documentation
Internal Links
IRIBIRI
Tanztheater Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar
QuaaDriDuuo
Archival Note: This page forms part of an ongoing personal archive documenting Ricardo Viviani’s professional work and activities over more than four decades. Names and other personal information appear where relevant to the documented work or collaboration. If you believe that information concerning you has been published incorrectly or should be reconsidered, please contact me.