News Release

Note: For DanceBrazil background and photos, see end of release.

Martial arts, modern dance, samba
fuse in performance by DanceBrazil

CHAPEL HILL –  DanceBrazil, a company that fuses elements of a centuries-old martial arts form with modern styles and samba moves, will perform Feb. 9 and 10 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The performances, both at 8 p.m. in the Beasley-Curtis Auditorium at Memorial Hall, are presented by Carolina Performing Arts.

A key component of DanceBrazil’s movement aesthetic is its infusion of capoeira (koppo-WAY-ra) elements. The Brazilian dance of African origin incorporates martial arts movements such as kicks and chops and can be traced to African slaves living in 16th-century Brazil. The company also draws inspiration from samba, a dance style of similar origin that is characterized by a dip and spring upward at each beat of the music.

Founded in 1977 by artistic director Jelon Viera, DanceBrazil seeks to connect with a broad North-American audience and spread an Afro-Brazilian cultural message through its education, presentation and production activities.

Influenced by the late Alvin Ailey, a modern dance frontrunner who joined DanceBrazil’s board of directors in 1980, the company has toured nationally and internationally and appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Lincoln Center in New York. The company also has been featured in PBS’s “Alive From Off Center” and “Egg: The Arts Show.”

Tickets for the company’s Carolina performances, $24-$50, are available online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org, by calling (919) 843-3333 or from the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tickets for Carolina students are $10. Tickets also are on sale for other performances. For more information, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org.

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Note: For a media kit and downloadable photos, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org/media.

Carolina Performing Arts contacts: Don Smith, (919) 843-3119, donsmith@email.unc.edu; Jennifer Warner, (919) 966-3834, jenniferwarner@unc.edu