Quote:
Originally Posted by Klondike
OK, we have a new thread for all of the Uzyna Uzona material that has been being posted like crazy in the Public Nudity Events List Project thread. For those of you not familiar with Uzyna Uzona, they are a theatre troupe from Brazil. If you google the name, the first pic to come up will be the one posted below. Need I say more? Apparently, this troupe has been around for a long time, so why have we only become aware of it this past year? Did they only recently decide to start shedding their clothes? I don't know. Anyway, thanks to Flanker7 mainly and some others for keeping tabs on their most recent performances, which may include (get ready for this) audience "hands on" participation. All in all, I think they deserve their own thread. So here is post no 1 to start, and soon hopefully more posts from the other thread will magically start to appear after this one. If that doesn't happen and you are dying for more, just hunt down the Public Nudity Events List Project thread, and feast your eyes on the most recent posts there (before Fango makes them disappear but that shouldn't happen until after they've been moved here. Got it?) Enjoy!
BTW - what in heck is this outfits OFFICIAL name? is it "Teatro Oficina Uzya Uzona", "Ofinica Uzyna Uzona"? just Uzyna Uzona? How about FOUU?
KLondike
|
Hey Klondike, I can answer a couple of your questions. The language makes it a little difficult to sort out the details, but I do know that they've been promoting the current run of their Macumba Antropofaga as a celebration of the 50th anniversary.
As far as the nudity goes, I've found a lot of stuff posted on youtube that looks like it's quite old, so I while I can't say they've always performed naked, it looks like it's been going on for a while. I get the sense that Macumba is an evolving, organic play that changes with each run. More of a ritual and a celebration than a fixed narrative. The nudity and nativist themes are constant, but pop culture seems to play an important role, and that obviously changes.
Surprisingly, these guys aren't exactly a fringe group. Their 50th anniversary performance was mentioned in several national media outlets, and a Brazilian senator, Eduardo Suplicy, appeared on stage (clothed) at the end of their performance to congratulate them, surrounded by the still-naked performers. I think their celebration of native culture and post-colonial commentary probably make them particularly relevant to the Brazilian experience.