Brazilian Dance Theater
Grupo Corpo - Bach & O Corpo
Director: Thomas Grimm
Distributor: Digital Classics Distribution Ltd.
Length: 86 mins.
16:9 | stereo & 5.1 surround sound
© 2001, a co-production with NRK, RM Ass., YLE and ZDF/3sat
"Amaz­ingly vivid" - The New York Times
"Tech­nic­al power and in­ex­haust­ible stam­ina" - Los Angeles Times
"A most beau­ti­ful and ori­gin­al fu­sion of dance" - Dance Magazine

These ac­col­ades are for Grupo Corpo, the Brazili­an dance com­pany which com­bines the sen­su­al­ity of Afro-Brazili­an dance forms and the tech­nic­al prowess of bal­let with a con­tem­por­ary, highly the­at­ric­al sens­ib­il­ity and en­ergy to burn. Brazili­an mu­sic and a pas­tiche of folk songs, in­nov­at­ive light­ing and scenery, and vivid cos­tumes all add to the ex­per­i­ence. The res­ult is a vi­brant spir­it and sense of ex­uber­ant en­ergy that is both visu­ally riv­et­ing and vis­cer­ally charged. Re­cor­ded on­stage at the Baden-Baden Fest­spiel­haus, this double bill of dance fea­tures the ac­claimed Brazili­an com­pany Grupo Corpo.
Rodrigo Pe­d­erneir­as’ "O Corpo" is set to mu­sic by the renowned rock mu­si­cian and poet Ar­naldo An­tunes. The res­ult is an ex­cit­ing mix of sounds, rhythms and texts. "Bach", also cho­reo­graphed by Pe­d­erneir­as, is set to Marco Antônio Guimarães’ ar­range­ments of mu­sic by J.S. Bach and has been de­scribed as "the Baroque of Bach and the Baroque of Mi­nas Gerais meet­ing in Brazili­an dance". Pe­d­erneir­as’ cho­reo­graphy jux­ta­poses ten­sion and har­mony and uses the whole space with flow­ing, con­stantly chan­ging form­a­tions.

An ex­tens­ive doc­u­ment­ary as a spe­cial fea­ture is in­cluded in the DVD and shows the en­semble at work, in re­hears­al and on tour, in­clud­ing ex­cerpts from per­form­ances and in­ter­views with mem­bers and friends of the com­pany.