The Boch Center Shubert Theatre

in Association with Celebrity Series of Boston

Presents 

Brazil's Premier Dance Ensemble  

"GRUPO CORPO"

Bringing a Celebration of Afro-Brazilian Culture in Two Regional Premieres
The renowned contemporary company returns to Boston for the first time since 2018 with a program that shows off uniquely Brazilian cultural elements and aesthetics.

TWO BOSTON PREMIERES: 

"GIRA" AND "GIL REFAZENDO"

BUY TICKETS 

Performances:

October 28, 2023 at 8:00pm

October 29, 2023 at 3:00pm 

TICKET PRICES Start at $35

Tickets for Grupo Corpo's performances start at $35 and are available at celebrityseries.org or the Celebrity Series Box Office at (617) 482-6661.

PARKING BOOK PARKING

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(Photo: Brazil's Premier Dance Ensemble "GRUPO CORPO" will perform at Boston's Boch Center Shubert Theatre on October 28 and 29, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Jose Luiz Pederneiras)

ABOUT THE SHOW

Mesmerizing rhythms, electrifying movements and spinning spiritualism burst onstage as Brazil's renowned contemporary dance ensemble GRUPO CORPO returns to Boston’s Boch Center Shubert Theatre October 28 and 29th. 

Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston, the celebratory performance marks GRUPO CORPO's return to the city for the first time since 2018.

"We are thrilled for the return of GRUPO CORPO to Boston after their unforgettable performances in 2018," said Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director of Celebrity Series of Boston. "With themes of spiritual, musical, and cultural renewal, this new performance acknowledges how everything has changed since we last welcomed the company. Yet, their signature, unique blend of Afro-Brazilian culture and innovative choreography retains its power to inspire and ignite audiences."

(Photo: Brazil's Premier Dance Ensemble "GRUPO CORPO" will perform at Boston's Boch Center Shubert Theatre on October 28 and 29, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Jose Luiz Pederneiras)

TWO BOSTON PREMIERES: 

"GIRA" AND "GIL REFAZENDO"

This performance comprises two recent works created by GRUPO CORPO'S chief choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, a former company dancer. "GIRA" is inspired by the Umbanda religion that blends West African, Catholic and other spiritual practices in which celebrants enter a state of altered consciousness, releasing control of their bodies to the spirits of ancestors, deities and inhabitants of the demi-monde.

Pederneiras' choreography for “GIRA” weaves joyful energy and acts of devotion into a spectacle that ponders humanity’s relationship to the supernatural and divine. 

With endless energy, and flowing white linen skirts designed by Freusa Zechmeister, GRUPO CORPO dancers create a controlled abandon onstage, incorporating Umbanda’s ecstatic spinning and profound ritual gestures. 

The music by São Paulo’s avant-jazz trio Metá Metá is a propulsive soundscape of voices, instruments and electronics that fuels the movement onstage. 

The predecessor to Pederneiras’ 2022 work "GIL REFAZENDO” called simply “GIL” was created in 2019 to new contemporary music by Gilberto Gil, a groundbreaking pioneer of 1960s Brazilian Tropicália whose living legacy of culture and political activism extends far beyond his homeland. 

Three years later, through the years of the COVID pandemic, the choreographer reimagined the earlier work (refazendo translates roughly to “remade”) in response to that global crisis, completely rebuilding the choreography.

(Photo: Brazil's Premier Dance Ensemble "GRUPO CORPO" will perform at Boston's Boch Center Shubert Theatre on October 28 and 29, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Jose Luiz Pederneiras)

The "GIL" soundtrack is a decidedly electronic take on his own beloved musical catalog that blends Samba, Bossa Nova, and Rock. 

Performers in casually elegant raw linen shirts and suits, also by Zechmeister, dance in clear white lights before a slow moving background image of regenerating sunflowers both designed by Paulo Pederneiras who, incidentally, founded the company in 1975.

The performance is a testament to the power of music and dance to bridge cultures, renew life, and create a shared experience.

(Photo: Brazil's Premier Dance Ensemble "GRUPO CORPO" will perform at Boston's Boch Center Shubert Theatre on October 28 and 29, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Jose Luiz Pederneiras)

This performance is made possible in part by support from Celebrity Series' LIVE PERFORMANCE! Arts for All Endowment and Innovation Funds, with generous leadership support from Stephanie L. Brown Foundation.

Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. 

Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers—from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more—to Boston’s major concert halls for 83 years. 

The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives, and build better communities. 

Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience—on stages, on streets, in neighborhoods—everywhere.

("GRUPO CORPO" will play the Boch Center Shubert Theatre for a limited engagement!)

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) 

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics

ABOUT THE WANG AND SHUBERT THEATRES

Just as the city and audience have evolved with the times, the Boch Center, as guardian of the WANG and SHUBERT THEATRES (and from 2012-15, the Center also managed the historic Emerson Colonial Theatre), has changed to meet the needs of its community. 

Uniquely using a Balanced Scorecard (a Fortune 500 management framework), strategy map, and strategic dashboard, the Boch Center ensures that our Theatres and programs stay relevant to the community we serve. Today, the Boch Center is considered a best practice institution and nonprofit arts leader. With the belief that arts make and keep us a civilized nation, the Boch Center is dedicated to providing high-quality, diverse and culturally relevant arts and entertainment, and arts education programming for New England residents and visitors.

ABOUT THE BOCH CENTER

The Boch Center is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic WANG and SHUBERT THEATRES. As New England’s largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more. Located in Boston’s historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational, cultural and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Leadership Program and the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame; collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston’s arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.