Viver Brasil has commissioned choreographer and newest Co-Artistic Director, Vera Passos, to create “Rezas E Folhas” (“Prayers & Leaves”), a genre-defying original work that posits Afro-Brazilian traditions of sacred herbalism as urgently necessary interventions against the ever-growing acts of climate injustice.
Set times:
6pm - DJ Muñeka
7pm - Viver Brasil
For Location, Parking & FAQ, click here.
“Rezas E Folhas” (“Prayers & Leaves”), was born out of Vera Passos’s unique creative approach, masterfully blending traditional Afro-Brazilian dances and rhythms with experimental choreography and poignant storytelling. The creative process of the artistic piece consists of four strategies: choreographic studies inspired by Orixá mythology, music and dance investigations, spatial reimaginings of the conventional theater stage, and storytelling sessions with spiritual elders.
Hailing from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Passos is a pioneering choreographer, seasoned teacher, and acclaimed performer whose deep-seated relationship with Afro-Brazilian movement and music sets her apart in the field of contemporary dance. Her work bravely defies archaic categories of tradition and experimentation, locating the ancestral practices of her Black Bahian heritage as powerful expressions of spirit-body rife with artistic and political possibility.
“My culture is my inspiration. When I dance, my feet speak with the earth... bringing ancestral messages of joy, resistance, and transformation.”
About Viver Brasil:
Founded in 1997 by Co-Artistic Directors Linda Yudin and Luiz Badaró, Viver Brasil is a legacy-bearing Los Angeles institution with deep and ongoing ties to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Viver Brasil creates culturally rooted and aesthetically bold Afro-Brazilian dance theater with its signature blend of ancestral practices, street styles, and live music–addressing contemporary issues of racial and social inequity towards a radically reimagined future. In 2022, Vera Passos was appointed as Co-Artistic Director.
“Breathless and colorful... vibrant swirl of motion and music.”
Samantha Blake Goodman aka DJ Muñeka is a multidisciplinary cultural programmer, casting director and choreographer working across music, fashion, film, and live performance. She is the founder of RAIL UP, one of LA’s most beloved pre pandemic dance parties and is known for her unique Brazilian Baile Funk sounds. Muñeka played Coachella’s Heineken House stage in 2022 and has featured mixes on NTS, Boiler Room and Red Bull. She has curated music, dance and film programs as guest curator for the Music Center and Redbull Music Academy.
Join us for Water Resist Dreamscapes, an art workshop hosted by Visions2030 inviting families and groups to experiment with watercolor techniques to create a dream-like watercolor composition inspired by L.A. 's vibrant landscapes, welcoming people of all ages, skills, and abilities.
Workshop presented in association with Visions2030: Earth Edition, A Festival of Eco-Consciousness this September at CalArts (September 15 - 24). More info at https://www.eartheditionfestival.la/
This performance is made possible in part by a grant from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
