RICARDO FRAYHA
producer

A sweeper from São Paulo would have once said that Avenida Paulista reminds him of love: it starts in paradise and ends in consolation. In fact, this great avenue in the Brazilian mega-metropolis, with its banks and companies, extends from one neighborhood to another. Their names are quite illustrious: "Paraíso" and "Consolação". They served as inspiration for Constanza Macras, an Argentine choreographer based in Berlin, for the title of his most recent work, developed in São Paulo with Brazilian dancers and musicians: Paraíso sem Consolação . Fragments of life and survival in a metropolis, as well as patterns of behavior and movement of the hungry masses that swallow up individuality - all contribute to a great puzzle. It produces the image of a different city, dreamed and still real, a parallel universe, where the inhabitants and their sparks of identity, memory, fantasy and eventualities frustrate the stereotype of Moloch and megalopolis, finally giving it a new form. Together with 12 Brazilian dancers and two musicians, Constanza Macras developed and developed this project in São Paulo. The result reflects the work process: the search for what makes the individual so special and the way the individual stands against the leveling of the city.

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CONSTANZA MACRAS

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was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she studied dance and fashion design, at the Buenos Aires University (UBA). She continued her dance studies in Amsterdam and New York (Merce Cunningham Studios). In 1995, Macras moved to Berlin and danced for various companies. In 1997, she founded her own first company TAMAGOTCHI Y2K. Between 1998 and 2000, TAMAGOTCHI Y2K presented four pieces: Wild Switzerland (1998), Face One (1999), In Between (2000) and Dolce Vita (2000), a site-specific live music performance that combined artists from various disciplines. It was created as a one-time event for each specific location. From 2001 to 2002, Macras developed and presented the trilogy MIR: A Love Story. In 2002, she also curated the project ‘PORNOsotros’, where she performed together with Lisi Estaras (Ballets C. de la B.) under the direction of different directors four short pieces dealing with the subject of pornography at Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin. She taught workshops and master classes in Japan, the United States (Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, ‘On the Boards’ in Seattle, India Atakalari Dance Center), France, Italy (Rome University for Performing Arts), Belgium (Antwerp University), the Netherlands (Henny Jurriens Foundation), Switzerland and Germany (Hochschule fuer Schauspielkunst ‘Ernst Busch’ and at the University of Arts UdK, both in Berlin. In 2008 Constanza Macras received the Goethe-Institut Award for her piece Hell on Earth. In 2010 she was awarded with the Arts at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) William L. Abramowitz Residency. Since 1961, the series has brought renowned performing artists and writers to MIT to perform, present public lectures, and collaborate with students in free programs. In the same year Constanza Macras was awarded the national German theater-prize DER FAUST for best choreography for the piece Megalopolis. Next to her productions with her company, Constanza Macras has also created Bosque de Espejos  (2016) for Teatro Colón’s Permanent Ballet Company in Buenos Aires; Soft Cell  (2015) commissioned by and for the Göteborg Opera Dance Company; Paraíso sem Consolação  (2008) a commission work of the Goethe Institut São Paulo with dancers from the company and a Brazilian cast. Premiered in São Paulo; Ein Sommernachtsraum (2006) together with Thomas Ostermeier, the Schaubühne ensemble and dancers from DorkyPark, Premiered at the Hellenic Festival; Pegarle a la Bolsa (2004) a commission from the Goethe-Institut Cordoba (Argentina) and Happiness (2003) for the Saarländisches Staatstheater Ballet.

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PARADISE WITHOUT CONSOLATION

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Direction and choreography: Constanza Macras | Set design : Simone Mina and Vanessa Poitena | Costume design: Simone Mina and Carolina Bertier | Video: Maria Onis | Lights: Paulo José Ribeiro (SESC São Paulo) | Sound: Ricardo Ródio (SESC São Paulo)

with: Anderson Gouvêa, Andressa Corso, Clarice Lima, Estela Lapponi, Fernanda Farah, Guilherme Lobo, Isis Vergílio, Jorge Garcia, Mariana Camargo, Natasha Vergílio, Rodrigo Andreolli and Stela Guz | Musicians: James Müller and Mano Bap

Assistant director: Jana Burbach | Choreography assistant: Ronni Maciel and Adriana Almeida | Costume production: Paula Prates | Video assistant: Evandro Almeida | Technicians: Wanderlei Wagner and Roberto Rodrigues da Silva | Wardrobe: Ana Maria de Almeida | Intern: Corinne Halter | Technical direction: Julio Cesarini | Graphic Design: Érico Peretta

Production: prod.art.br | Production direction: Matthias Pees and Ricardo Muniz Fernandes | Executive production: Ricardo Frayha | Production Assistance: Jussara Rahal and Ursula Reichenbach

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Realisation: Goethe-Institut São Paulo and Sesc São Paulo | Support: Kulturstiftung des Bundes | Cooperation: Hebbel am Ufer theater (HAU), Berlin
Teatro Paulo Autran - Sesc Pinheiros
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
20 to 29/06/2008
Sesc Santos
Santos, SP, Brazil
02/06/2008
HAU 1 - Hebbel am Ufer
Berlin, Germany
13 to 15/09/2008