Interview with Alexandre Américo

on the visualities of dance as temporal compositions

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70446/ephemera.v9i18.8142
Keywords: Alexandre Américo, contemporary dance, visuality of scenes, costume design, temporality

Abstract

In this interview, the potiguar artist Alexandre Américo discusses his creative processes in contemporary dance, focusing on the composition of images through the relationship between the body and other materialities of the scene, based on the works from his poetic project Manifestations of the Earth. With an emphasis on afro-centered artistic and philosophical references, Américo’s dance practice redefines certain concepts of visual elements of the scene, especially concerning the design of costumes as matter upon the body. His work develops a procedural, non-hierarchical practice grounded in attentive listening to things, landscapes, and their presences. In this way, the artist's practice affirms the intrinsic relationship between temporality and rhythm in scenographic compositions as essential to shaping these materials also as performative events.

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Author Biographies

Heloísa Sousa, Universidade de São Paulo

Heloísa Sousa is an artist-researcher from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. She works as a theatre director and theatre critic in Natal (RN). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and a Master’s degree in Performing Arts from UFRN, and a PhD in Arts from USP. Her research focuses on the visualities of the scene, with an emphasis on costume design for contemporary performance, the relationships between theatre and performance art, and image composition for the stage. Since 2016, she has written regularly for Farofa Crítica, a website dedicated to performing arts criticism.

Alexandre Araújo de Oliveira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Alexandre Américo is a caiçara and neurodivergent artist, as well as a dance researcher. He is a PhD candidate in Education, holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts, and a Bachelor’s degree in Dance, all from UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil). From a racialized and accessible perspective, his work focuses on research in Contemporary Art, with an emphasis on performative structures, improvisation, and their counter-colonial dramaturgical developments. He was the artistic director of Cia. GiraDança (2018–2023) in Natal (RN). His interests include psychoanalytic studies and Cripistemology (crip theory), in collaboration with disabled artists (DEFs) from the outskirts of Natal. In 2024, he founded TORTA – Expanded Art Platform. Additionally, he contributes critical writing to the websites Portal MUD (São Paulo) and Farofa Crítica (Rio Grande do Norte).

References

LEPECKI, André. 9 variações sobre coisa e performance. Tradução de Sandra Meyer. Urdimento, Revista de Estudos em Artes Cênicas, Florianópolis, v. 2, n. 19, p. 93-99, 2012.

MCRUER, Robert. Teoria Crip: signos culturais entre o queer e a deficiência. Papeis Selvagens Edições: Rio de Janeiro, 2024.

SOUSA, Heloísa. Ensaios sobre o figurino: filosofia e teatralidade. 2024. Tese (Doutorado em Artes) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2024. Disponível em: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/27/27162/tde-13052024-145409/pt-br.php . Acesso em: 10 mar. 2026.

Published
2026-03-10
How to Cite
PACHECO DE SOUSA, H. H.; ARAÚJO DE OLIVEIRA, A. Interview with Alexandre Américo: on the visualities of dance as temporal compositions. Ephemera: Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas da Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, v. 9, n. 18, 10 Mar. 2026.
Issue
Vol. 9 No. 18 (2026): Poéticas Negras e Periféricas no Contexto da América Latina: Performatividades, Dramaturgias e Pedagogias Contracoloniais (2)
Section
Special Issue "Black and Peripheral Poetics"

Copyright (c) 2026 Heloísa Helena Pacheco de Sousa, Alexandre Araújo de Oliveira

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