{"id":3479,"date":"1984-12-11T20:30:00","date_gmt":"1984-12-11T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ricardoviviani.com\/?p=3479"},"modified":"2026-09-05T09:32:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T07:32:59","slug":"dancas-novas-e-uma-usada-danca-na-praca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ricardoviviani.com\/?p=3479","title":{"rendered":"Dan\u00e7as Novas e Uma Usada – Dan\u00e7a na Pra\u00e7a"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ricardo
Computer-art image associated with Dan\u00e7as Novas e uma Usada<\/em>, documenting the technological and visual language developed around the production.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Type:<\/strong> Production \u00b7 Dance \/ Computer Art \/ Performance
Date:<\/strong> 11 December 1984; related documentation and presentations extend into 1984
Context:<\/strong> Experimental dance integrating choreography, computer technology, generated visual material and live performance
Location:<\/strong> Circo Escola Picadeiro, Parque do Povo, S\u00e3o Paulo; additional presentation at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto
Organisation:<\/strong> Ricardo Viviani \/ independent production
Role:<\/strong> Choreographer \u00b7 Performer \u00b7 Researcher \u00b7 Producer
Participants:<\/strong> Ricardo Viviani \u00b7 Renata Melo
Technology:<\/strong> Microdigital computer equipment
Status:<\/strong> Historical production record reconstructed from surviving primary documentation, photographs and archival recollection<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Record \/ Description<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dan\u00e7as Novas e uma Usada<\/em> belongs to an early period in Ricardo Viviani’s work in which choreography, performance, experimental composition and computer technology began to intersect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving press release identifies the presentation as taking place on 11 December 1984 at 20:30<\/strong> at the Circo Escola Picadeiro, Parque do Povo, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/strong>, near the Jardim bridge. The document presents Viviani as a dancer and choreographer and describes an artistic practice concerned with developing new forms of dance through experimentation and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme included a series of solos and a duet performed by Ricardo Viviani and Renata Melo. The release specifically identifies Uma Usada<\/em> as the solo Dan\u00fabio Azul<\/em>, which had premiered in 1982, while Rela\u00e7\u00f5es Interpessoais<\/em> is described as a work in which dance and computer technology interact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The computer was not simply an object placed onstage. According to the surviving release, Rela\u00e7\u00f5es Interpessoais<\/em> used computers and monitors as part of the logic of the performance: data generated through the system determined aspects of the relationship and sequence of the dancers’ actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ricardo
Ricardo Viviani and Renata Melo performing outdoors at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto, S\u00e3o Paulo. The photograph provides surviving visual evidence of an additional presentation of the work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Work \/ Creation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dan\u00e7as Novas e uma Usada<\/em> should be understood as a production framework rather than simply the title of a single choreography. The surviving document presents a group of works that brought together existing repertoire and new experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most technologically distinctive component was Rela\u00e7\u00f5es Interpessoais<\/em>, described in the release as an integration of computer and dance. A computer-generated or computer-determined system became part of the choreographic structure, with data used to determine the relationship between the dancers and the sequence of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The release also identifies Uma Usada<\/em> as Dan\u00fabio Azul<\/em>, a solo that had premiered in 1982. This establishes an important relationship between the earlier solo repertoire and the new computer-oriented research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activity \/ Event<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Documented presentation:<\/strong> 11 December 1984, 20:30, Circo Escola Picadeiro, Parque do Povo, S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving press release gives the venue and location as the Circo Escola Picadeiro at Parque do Povo, near the Jardim bridge. This supersedes the previously uncertain venue information in the archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An additional presentation is recalled at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto<\/strong>. The surviving performance photograph provides visual evidence of Ricardo Viviani and Renata Melo performing outdoors before an audience. The photographic record is particularly significant because Viviani’s studio address, printed on the surviving release, was also at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The production combined choreography, performance, computer equipment, sound, text and visual experimentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving release states that the computer equipment was provided by Microdigital Computadores<\/strong>. The release describes a stage environment containing four monitors and three computers<\/strong>. The equipment therefore formed part of the performance environment and choreographic conception rather than functioning solely as technical support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving computer equipment is still held in Ricardo Viviani’s archive. These machines constitute important physical evidence of the technological environment in which this work was developed and should eventually be documented as archival objects, including their models, configuration and surviving software or media where identifiable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intellectual Production<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The production represents an early form of artistic research in which computer technology was treated as a compositional partner in dance rather than simply as a recording or administrative tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving release describes the computer system as contributing data that determined relationships and sequences within the performance. This provides direct evidence of an attempt to translate computational processes into choreographic structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work is therefore relevant to the history of Viviani’s research into new dance forms, as well as to the broader intersection of dance, experimental performance and early personal-computer culture in Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primary Source \/ Documentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The principal primary source for this record is a surviving thermal-paper press release \/ artistic information document<\/strong> associated with the production. Its typography, 8-bit graphics and physical format are themselves part of the production history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Surviving
Surviving thermal-paper press release \/ artistic information document for Dan\u00e7as Novas e uma Usada<\/em>. The document records the Circo Escola Picadeiro presentation, describes the computer-and-dance component, identifies Microdigital Computadores as the provider of the computer equipment, and preserves the 8-bit graphic language associated with the production.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The document is particularly important because it preserves information that would otherwise be difficult to reconstruct: the documented venue, date and time; the relationship between the existing and new works; the participation of Renata Melo; the use of computers and monitors within the performance; the musical and textual credits; the equipment provider; and Ricardo Viviani’s studio address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 8-bit graphics are not treated here as incidental decoration. They form part of the surviving visual language of the project and provide evidence of the connection between the graphic, technological and choreographic aspects of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This record contributes to a larger chronology of Ricardo Viviani’s experimentation during the early and mid-1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surviving documentation establishes a connection between the 1982 Dan\u00fabio Azul<\/em>, the 1984 presentation documented by the press release, and subsequent work involving Rela\u00e7\u00f5es Interpessoais<\/em> \/ Serious Talk<\/em> and Colch\u00f5es Ortop\u00e9dicos<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship between the different dates and presentations should remain historically explicit rather than being reduced to a single creation date. The archive currently contains evidence from 1983 and 1984, including the press release, performance photography and later documentation. Further examination of surviving papers, computers, photographs and other materials may refine the chronology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relationship<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rela\u00e7\u00f5es Interpessoais<\/em> is particularly important to the genealogy of this production. The surviving documentation establishes the Portuguese title, while later documentation identifies Serious Talk<\/em> as its English title. These should be treated as two titles for the same work, not as separate choreographies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The computer-based research documented here also connects directly with the later development and presentation of Viviani’s work in New York and with the technological and graphic experiments visible in the surviving 1984 documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This production should therefore be read as part of a continuing line of investigation rather than as an isolated event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place \/ Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The documented venue was Circo Escola Picadeiro, Parque do Povo, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The archive also contains photographic evidence of an outdoor presentation at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto<\/strong>. This location has particular significance because Ricardo Viviani’s studio was situated at Pra\u00e7a Benedito Calixto 162, the address printed on the surviving release. The studio was not simply an administrative address: it was a place where Viviani lived, rehearsed and gave dance classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proximity between studio, rehearsal activity, teaching and public presentation forms an important part of the working context of this period. The Pra\u00e7a therefore represents both a geographic and an artistic context for the production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Reflection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

This work belongs to a period when the computer itself became part of the artistic investigation. The surviving machines, the early computer graphics and the performance documentation preserve a moment when technology was being explored directly through dance and choreography.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Archival Material<\/h3>\n\n\n\n