Dancer Agustin Salcedo, from Cia de Dança do Pantanal (Pantanal Dance Company), was invited to perform with Brazilian performers, guest artists from the Czech Republic and refugees from Ukraine, in Rotas, part of the program of the Dança em Trânsito (Dance in Transit) festival.

Performances took place in Rio de Janeiro last week and, this Wednesday (9), Brasília will host the work, at 5:30 pm, at the Museu da República, the result of a creative partnership developed during a residency. The proposal is also to experience the individual stories that intertwine.

The encounters were scheduled to take place in two parts – Brazil and the Czech Republic. Presentations of the results of the Rotas encounters will also be held in both countries, in partnership with the Tanec Praga and Dança em Trânsito festivals.

Agustín Salcedo is Argentine and has been with Cia de Dança do Pantanal since 2019, when he was chosen to join the professional dancers’ company. “Cia de Dança do Pantanal represents a before and after in my career. It represents the expansion of my career. I have learned a lot and I am very grateful for that. I was enriched not only in dance but also in my personal life. I had the opportunity to get to know the Pantanal, its importance and the respect for the animals and local cultures,” he says.

Last year, part of Cia de Dança do Pantanal performed in Paris, also at the Dança em Trânsito festival, with the show Carne Quebrada. From that, came the invitation for him to represent the Mato Grosso do Sul-based company at Rotas.

Although the artists got to know each other and discussed the performance, the choreography is, in part, created in the moment. “We had a few meetings beforehand to get an idea of how we would move in the space, for example. But we also have a free moment, in which each person can show what they carry within themselves,” explains the dancer.

For Agustín, taking part in the Rotas encounters only adds to his professional and personal baggage. “The experiences are always very enriching, gratifying. And it doesn’t just add to my dancing, but to all the work of Cia de Dança do Pantanal, because I’ll be able to share it with my colleagues and friends, as we always do”.

Dança em Trânsito in Corumbá

In its 21st edition, Dança em Trânsito, one of the largest and most comprehensive international contemporary dance festivals in the country, will be in Corumbá with two performances, at Moinho Cultural, on August 28, at 6 pm. The performances are free. The festival is sponsored by Instituto Cultural Vale.

The Dança em Trânsito project brings together artistic performances, training, capacity building, reflection and exchange among dance groups from various cities in Brazil and around the world. It is a plural, itinerant festival that enables exchanges of experience between artists and national and international guest companies, and also encourages the development of dance languages.

Dança em Trânsito is characterized by democratizing works highlighted in the current scene and by occupying different spaces: from theaters to squares and streets. With each edition, it extends access to new audiences, valuing the democratization of culture and reinforcing the commitment to strengthen and promote contemporary dance in harmony with other cultures and dance segments and with Brazilian popular culture.

To make up the programming for the cities, Brazilian artists and companies were selected from the north to the south of Brazil, as well as international artists and companies.

About Cia de Dança do Pantanal

Cia de Dança do Pantanal was created in 2017, in the city of Corumbá/MS, on the border with Bolivia, being one of the integrated actions of Instituto Moinho Cultural Sul-Americano (South American Cultural Mill Institute). The intent from the beginning is to provide access and professional opportunities for dancers from South American social projects, as well as to represent the Pantanal territory, promoting dance with repertoires that include neoclassical and contemporary pieces, created by national and international choreographers.

The Company aims to explore and focus its contemporary works on one of Humanity’s most precious biomes, the Pantanal, which extends across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, countries that have the state of Mato Grosso do Sul as adjacent territory, and which is considered the largest floodable area on the planet. The “COMPANHIA DE DANÇA DO PANTANAL” is a space where local, national and international artists, trained with a high degree of technical, artistic and professional knowledge to international standards, represent Corumbá/MS and Brazil, at home and abroad, for an increasingly demanding audience seeking quality, excellence and greatness in Brazil and around the world.