BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Defined as a heavenly body with an extraordinary capacity to radiate energy, Quasar is the perfect name for a dance company that started in the ’80s and quickly became a leading light in the realm of contemporary dance.
Brazil’s Quasar Dance Company is all set to shine at Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music on September 19.
Completely cut off from the Rio-Sao Paulo circuit, the group wanted to break free from the academic straitjacket and develop its own style and rules. This starting point made it possible for Quasar to leap over the purely aesthetic relations of dance to more deeply explore its own language of expression as well as contemporary issues and social ills.
No better example of the troupe’s dedication to innovation is that they brought in a physical education student and martial arts instructor named Henrique Rodovalho to choreograph their first show “Asas” (“Wings”) back in 1988. Rodovalho went on to become the company’s artistic director and has choreographed all 22 of their productions.
Early involvement with video and theatrical productions stimulated his talents as a director. In addition to traditional dance production scenarios, Rodovalho utilises multimedia strategies to forge an interaction between the real world, the imaginary universe recreated on stage, the audience and the dancers.
Quasar began to find its feet while narrating short comedy stories. “Under The Same Big Blue” (1990) lent more boldness to the company’s work, which merged photography, video and music with improvisation on stage. Next up were “Do Not Disturb” (1992), “Three to the Center” (1992) and “The Chicken’s Egg” (1993), performances which stamped the group with the rhythm of creation and a Mambembe identity.
After that Quasar took their shows on the road throughout Brazil, followed by acclaimed performances in the world’s greatest contemporary arts centres across Europe, the United States and South America.
Of the many awards in their trophy case, at the end of 2000 Rodovalho received the Best Choreographer award for “Women” at the XXI Award INBA - UAM (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes – Universidade Autonoma Metropolitana) for Choreographic Composition in Mexico City. This was the first time that a foreign artist had received an award in 21 years.
His latest work, “So Close,” which will be presented in Bangkok, is an outstanding and challenging piece that questions the distances that exist between people and to what extent we should get close to strangers. Selfishness and altruism are also brought into the debate since being at close quarters can mean both good and evil for both others and ourselves.
“As far as the creative process is concerned, the more obvious relations were no longer of interest to me. I was more excited about dwelling on mysteries and uncertainties,” says the choreographer.
All the choreographies were inspired by relationship possibilities that ultimately lead to physical contact. Thus, there are no solos from the beginning to the end of the spectacle. “People are touching each other all the time in search of a way to express themselves,” Rodovalho explains.
On a surreal set, the Quasar Dance Company will also perform their production “Up in the Mouth,” an atmospheric piece that contrasts our ideals of paradise with the mundane realities of life symbolised by mouths.
But you don’t have to know anything about philosophy or dance culture to be swayed by the pulsating Brazilian rhythms that inspire the most eloquent of emotions and primitive of passions.
Helena Katz, the dance critic, pointed out, “In Brazil few dance groups have the relevance of Quasar, the transit point between erudite dance culture and popular Brazilian music.”
Supported by the Embassy of Brazil, it’s a feast for the senses and intellect. As Nietzsche once quipped, “Why trust a philosopher who can’t dance?”

The festival is sponsored by Bangkok Bank, B. Grimm, Dusit Thani Bangkok, The Nation Multimedia Group, Nivea, SCG, Singha, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Toyota Motor Thailand.

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