Terreiro Das Nossos Memorias

Past

2013

An ongoing performance research project with young people from outside São Paulo, Brazil, exploring personal politics, autobiography and myth through the lens of the Afro-Brazilian Animistic religion of Candomble.

Leo ran a pilot for the project in May 2013 at Ile' Axe Alaquetun Omofunfun Aie (casa de axe dos Filhos das Aguas Claras da Terra), a Candomble house of worship run by the high priestess Mae Iara Barbosa.

Leo led a week-long workshop for several of the closest members of the ‘Casa de Axe’ (House of Worship), culminating in a candlelit promenade performance around the religious encampment which incorporated biographical material from the participants lives and mythical stories from the lives of the gods (Orixas) of Candomble.

During the process, the participants live, eat and breath Candomble. Although most of them had no previous experience of theatre, the group included accomplished percussionists, dancers and singers. These elements played a vital role in the final performance, where music, movement and storytelling came together to create a theatrical whirlwind of anecdote, myth-making and celebration.

The project explored Leo’s central performance preoccupations; the ambiguous space between performance and everyday life, biography-as-performance, and site-specific work for creating original performance art. He intends to return to work with this same group in the future; deepening their personal connection and exploring further the theatricality and mythology they introduced during the first two-week process.

Filmmaker Sam Campbell of Lamb+Sea captured the entire process and is collaborating with Leo on the creation of a short documentary. 

Creative Team

Directed by
Leo Kay

Performers
Edette, Micinha, Dandara, Diane, Louise Henrique, Iara, Gefferson, Carla, Jennifer, Zeita, Vinicios, Lins, Wilson Junior, Guilherme

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