It was now or never for Augusto Soledade, founder and director of Augusto Soledade Brazzdance, to manifest an idea that had been germinating for three years. There didn’t seem to be the absolute right time to have funding in place, the people, or the elements that he felt would be necessary to create the piece he wanted to create. So he took a leap of faith and jumped into the creation of his newest full evening piece entitled “Shade“ a closer look at who we are and the many questions that surround identity.
Soledade spoke about why he was compelled to tell this story. “ I feel that all of my ideas filter through some sort of personal experience that I’ve had,” he says.
“Back in high school in Wisconsin, I was the only black guy. Students would ask me, What are you? It was a question I didn’t fully understand. What do you mean, What AM I?” he laughs.
Augusto Soledade Photos by MagicalPhotos.com / Mitchell Zachs.
“It stopped me. Then they would ask ‘Are you black?’ I felt I never had an answer.”
As a young exchange student in high school, he did not want to identify with only one race. He didn’t want to erase any of his Brazilian relatives from his intricate genetic identity. He also didn’t feel the need to.
Growing up as an Afro Brazilian in Bahia, Brazil, Soledade was never asked identity questions. There were so many “shades” of color and heritage. It was all accepted and never questioned.
“I feel it is the same in my dance vocabulary. Most people imagine I’m doing Brazilian folklore because of my roots.” he says. “But my dance is really Afro-fusion, which is a blend of contemporary dance with my Afro-Brazilian roots.”
So for “Shade” he wanted to address some of these questions, the issues of identity, heritage and colors.
It seems today that so much is about identity. “It is shocking to me that we are still in this mode of What are you.” He muses. “What does that mean? What are you trying to know?”
After much thought and research and today’s use of technology, Soledade became intrigued with the idea of head shots and how we identify ourselves through photos of our face. We use selfies, to show the world our life, or what we choose for others to perceive. All of this research led him to discover Voguing and the idea of ‘framing the face.’
“Voguing was a movement in the late '60s and '70s specifically to a marginalized group of gay African American and Latino men in NY who kind of ‘came together’ for self affirmation. It was about creating an environment where everyone was accepted. It didn’t matter what you were or who you were.”
“What mattered most to me about this was how dance came out of this expressive mode. Selfies have done a lot through social media but have never produced dance”
Soledade says, “The best word to describe it is abandonment.”
While “Shade” is not a voguing piece per se, the raw energy of abandonment, giving yourself completely to the moment and adding the dancers’ personal stories is what Soledade wants to capture in “Shade” through his own contemporary dance structure.
I am working with Jessica Muñiz- Collado who has composed a lot of music for film and Kandy Lopez, who has created a wonderful art piece backdrop.
Any new work is reliant on funding from various sources and Soledade is tremendously thankful for those that have made his new work possible and allowed him to take this leap of faith.
“There is no real narrative. It’s a work that we hope everyone will see themselves in and connect with.”
Augusto Soledade Brazzdance performs Wednesday, May 24 and Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 8:30 p.m. Gleason Room Miami Beach,1700 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139 May 24th: VIP night admission $50 (includes one drink and hors d'oeuvres) Celebrating Brazzdance Day May 25th: General Admission - $25, Miami Beach residents - $20, Students - $15.
For more program information, please email contact@brazzdance.com, or call (786) 338-5488
