"We don't have money, but we are funny"

This is a solo created by the Brazilian dancer Mariana Pimentel in 2009.

The title was the first stimulus of the piece– it carries out different aspects of Brazilian society, from the economical situation to the people’s state of mind - leading to the starting point of facing the Brazilian clichés and its ‘common places’, to, in a posterior moment deconstruct them. This country is full of pre-conceptions, taking part in people’s imaginary through superficial perceptions.

This research intends to analyse not only the relation between Brazilian people and their culture but mainly between foreign people and Brazil. The deconstruction and des-contextualization are the constant challenges of this performance, because the cliché is powerful and lives by itself. It is this fine line that makes the performance appropriated, because it is in the edge of what can be recognized or not, defining a “Brazil- is- not –only- samba- soccer- women -and -beach” manifest.

The main focus of this performance is neither to present or to show the Brazilian culture nor to make an apologia of how this culture should be seen and which values one should give to it, either be a mere dissemination of another kind of information about this culture. The intention is to open up a reality making a confrontation with anothers; to use the Brazilian culture to bring important aspects related to other social conjunctures and cultural realities, and, last but not least, to warn about the prejudices and pre-conceptions which Brazil is the aim, exceeding its clichés through the cliché itself, making the performance a constant ridiculous and interesting redundancy.

Next performances:

May, 7th - Imigrartes Festival, Sou Movimento e Arte, metro:Anjos, Lisbon.
April, 29 th - Tanz.Tag. 10 - Viena, Austria.
June, 15 - 17 th, Abundance Festival 2010, Karlstad, Sweden.
December, 4th - Primeiro Andar / Quarta Parede, Covilhã, Portugal.

« We don’t have money, but we are funny » (2009)

Creation and performance: Mariana Pimentel
Music: “Esnobou meu sentimento” - Aviões do Forró, “Partido Alto” - Chico Buarque and “Na cadência do samba” – Paulo Gesta e Ataulfo Alves.
Lenght: 16min25 seg (the time can be adapted)
Graphic Design: Nuno André Patrício

Sinopsis: The defenceless and ignorant fragility of a country who dances, deceived by the capital bureaucrats. A corrupt present that is obscene. Being ‘sub-developed’ isn’t the ‘not having’ something: is not being in the present, and, at the same time, to forget the easily the past. But, isn’t better than faking a development, to enjoy this sub-development?
(Mariana Pimentel, based in the chronicle “We are never in the better days” by Arnaldo Jabor)

Contacts:
Mariana Pimentel
Rua 15, No 14 – r/c – Santa Maria de Belém
Código Postal: 1400-405

Telephone: (00351)9174-34611
maribpimentel@yahoo.com.br

Pictures: Joao Costa and Joao Braz