Rodas e redes de saberes e criação: o encontro dançante entre a universidade e a cultura popular ao som da Tamborzada

Abstract

The thesis should demonstrate ways in which the interaction and the exchanging of knowledge between the University and the sources of popular wisdom can lead to an epistemic reunion expected to be dialogical and circular in the realm of teaching and creation in Dance courses. New responsive experiences lead to new artistic knowledge proper of that reunion. This study takes into consideration thirty seven years of experiences acquired through field research in Brazilian popular culture and takes as object of investigation the artistic production of the Companhia Folclórica do Rio-UFRJ, a group dedicated to research in and inspired by the popular dances of Brazil. As sources of knowledge, the work relies on the popular masters, mestres populares, acknowledging their art and understanding them as subjects of all action as well as agents of all action in the practice of the Rodas the circular dance gathering common in popular dance manifestations and of the Redes -- the networks formed by this artistic net weaving which mixes academic work and the popular masters as teachers. The work also presents other educational actions proposed by the Dance Department at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) through extension activities, which are being incorporated to regular programs by schools and educational premises in all levels. One of the Companhia s productions, Tamborzada, a tribute to Brazilian drums, will be presented to the Board, as part of the requirements for the Doctorate degree, and will be detailed from research that leads to a new script up to its creation and staging. The main goal of the shared experience brought to this paper is to disseminate popular culture in its artistic, educational, social, and political potential -- inestimable heritage.