Cisne Negro, onstage tomorrow, offers a glimpse of the spirit of a nation
It took Brazil's highly acclaimed Cisne Negro Dance Company 36 hours to travel from Sao Paulo to Bangkok. That's just over an hour for every year of its history. But the flight delays were soon forgotten yesterday afternoon over lunch at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
"It's an honour to be the first Brazilian company in the 12 years of the Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music," founder and artistic director Hulda Bittencourt declared.
She gave most of the credit for their involvement to Edgard Telles Ribiero, Brazil's former ambassador to Thailand, who'd seen them perform in New York in 2005 and recommended them to the Bangkok festival's director, JS Uberoi.
The embassy kept the idea alive even after Ribiero moved on.
"It's rare for a private company like ours to get this immense support from the government," Bittencourt said.
Cisne Negro - which means "black swan" in Portuguese - shares its name with the ballet school Bittencourt founded six decades ago, gradually turning it into a professional dance company. Bittencourt was trained in classical ballet and her favourite role is the Black Swan of "Swan Lake".
"The name has got us into trouble in some countries," she chuckled. "The Brazilian ambassador to Mozambique told the people there it's 'a rare kind of bird'."
Although all of the dancers are also schooled in classical ballet, the only classical work they perform is "The Nutcracker", an annual production that's sold out every December.
Bittencourt's intention from the outset was to have all of the dancers work with different choreographers from around the world.
"It's nice to work with different kinds of people, movements, languages and music," said Dany Bittencourt, Hulda's daughter and a veteran choreographer.
"You can't dance every piece the same way - we just have to do our best. I think this method benefits both the dancers and the audience."
In Bangkok the 18 dancers will perform four pieces to show their own diversity and that of the Brazilian spirit.
"Fruto da Terra" ("Fruit of the Earth") by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili is a piece the company often performs overseas. "It reaches out to the audience very well," Dany noted, with its tale of rural living in harmony with nature. "We need to buy about 100 potatoes as props."
Next comes "Forrolins" ("Forró Tunes"), which Dany created for Chilean National Ballet, based on traditional Brazilian music and the form of dancing known as forró.
"When they put up a forró sign in front of a restaurant or a bar it means 'for all', so it means everybody can come in, dance and enjoy," Dany explained.
This is followed by "Revoada" ("Flock of Birds"), Romanian choreographer Gigi Caciuleanu's recreation of Stravinsky's "Firebird" and "Fireworks".
Finally, "Trama" ("Interweaving") by Brazil's Rui Moreira compiles various traditions of Brazilian music.
In these four works, Cisne Negro will show us the Brazilian way of moving.
"When Mikhail Baryshnikov visited Brazil for the first time, he noticed that when Brazilian people walk, they dance," Dany said. "Dance is in our blood!"
I early on picked Cisne Negro's show as one of the must-sees at this year's festival, and after viewing their DVD, I stand firm by my choice.
BLACK SWANS
The Cisne Negro Dance Company performs at the Thailand Cultural Centre tomorrow at 7.30.
Tickets are Bt600 to Bt2,000.
Find out more at www.BangkokFestivals.com and www.CisneNegro.com.br.