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A dancer, actress, teacher and choreographer, I was born and raised in Salvador, capital of the Bahia state in Brazil. Bahia is the cradle of African Brazilian culture where African traditions and arts are constantly maintained and nourished. For the last 25 years, I have been a student and teacher of many Brazilian dance, music, and theater forms, particularly in Yoruba and Kongo-Angolan-based traditions from Bahia. I did formal studies at the Dance Academy of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), where I worked for fifteen years as an intern, researcher, educator, actress, dancer and choreographer. My work focuses on the influence of the African heritage and traditions of the African Diaspora in contemporary performing and visual arts. Using a variety of artistic languages, I have performed and taught in Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, England, and the United States.

I have also had informal training in the social and ritual community contexts of the CandomblÈ: In CandomblÈ the stories and functions of the Orixas are also understood as human functions. I was given the opportunity to learn the stories and dances of the Orixas that improved my dynamics, the quality and character of my movements, my creations and interpretations. The Orixas are directly related and sometimes are the very elements of nature: water, earth, fire and air, the four basic elements; also rain, thunder, stones and rocks, water, plants, or a 300-year old tree. The character of movement as it relates to each element of nature is distinct and has its own dynamics. My experiences in the CandomblÈ have improved my background as an artist.

My work as a performer, choreographer and teacher demonstrates deep ties to the language of contemporary dance and experimental theater. Initially the concept and narrative of my works were rooted in Afro Brazilian culture, its tradition and the history of its people. Today, with this experience of living more than eight years outside Brazil, exposed to an international and multicultural world, my artistic interests, passions and investigations have extended beyond Brazil to encompass the African Diaspora, including the culture and history of Haiti, Cuba, and the United States. I have also embraced Hindu-Yoga philosophy and practices.

Through my work, I am committed to making the philosophy, history, literature, imagery and formal structure of Brazilís African Diaspora part of the cultural debate, and to lift the aura of touristic exoticism that often surrounds African culture in favor of a deeper international understanding and appreciation of its intellectual vision.

As a teacher, I am committed to intensive preparation of my students at the beginning of each class. I spend a great deal of time preparing our bodies to give them the strength and the freedom to move, to learn and become receptive to new ideas and physical challenges. Recognizing that for the great majority of my students, this is a new style of dance for them, I am cognizant of the levels of all of the dancers and acknowledge their improvement as dancers over time. I also challenge and push them to engage in and confront a new dance and physical/social paradigm. Once I have a sense of the levels and abilities of my students, I design and organize a dance curriculum that allows me to bring them to my desired level for them.

In my classes, I teach the dances of my culture, so I really want them, in time, to develop the same understanding and respect for these dances that I have. In addition to learning the movements and the steps, I also want them to learn the history, the culture, the anthropological background and the philosophy that all gave rise and meaning to the movements and the steps.

I also encourage a physical conversation that encourages the students to bring their own interpretation of the dances to the class. Many of the students express curiosity about the meaning of the dances, which provides me the opportunity to address the history and culture of the dances and to explain to them how these ritual dances and their meanings may be applied in practical ways to our daily lives. I also create and assign a syllabus to students to help them research and understand the origins of these dances. I also take my students to relevant performances to increase their exposure to a range of dance styles and to broaden their dance knowledge.

I use traditional and modern, contemporary Brazilian music in my classes as this music best fits the specific steps and movements of the dances I teach. I prefer to use live musicians as much as possible as I believe the presence of live music in the class helps to bring it full circle.

I believe that dance always has to bring some message. As I choreographer, most of the time, even if I begin to work with just the basic movements of the work, I always approach the choreography with a story. The story may be real, historical, or of my own creation. Whatever its source, the story becomes the foundation of the movement of the piece and of the dancer(s) and the integrity of the work.

The inspirations for my choreography are varied and, at any point in time, may be one of the following: the dancers and the dynamic and energy they possess, music that I like that best fits the moment and the necessity to pass on a message I have received. The traditional dances of the Orixas are always the inspiration for my movements.

In addition to music, my choreography incorporates other mediums, such as multimedia and visual arts, video and photography. These serve not only as additional artistic languages but also as tangible ways to incorporate and collaborate with other professional artists. In my prior teaching positions at universities, I approached academic departments, such as theatre, music, African studies, Latin studies, and visual arts, to bring faculty members and students form these departments in collaboration with dance. This also gives the students from these departments opportunities to apply their technical skills in a setting outside of their primary focus of study.

As a performer, when I plan for my performances, silence and concentration help me go on stage, be an artist, and show with truth, my emotions and gestures.Performance is my voice; itís my opportunity to communicate with many people at once. To perform is to make history, to be part of the process.

In my teaching, in my choreography and in my performances, I am committed to including the philosophy, the history, the literature, the imagery and the formal structure of Brazilís African heritage part of the global cultural focus. I am also committed to replacing the ìtourist exoticismî of African culture in Brazil with a deeper, international understanding and appreciation of its intellectual vision. Examples of this include:

In 1988, I created and interpreted in Bahia, Brazil, a solo performance Malinke: A Representation of a Black Woman in Rehearsal Clothes. In this performance, I used aesthetic references to strong, revolutionary female artists, including Billy Holiday and Luiza Mahim, a prominent female voice of the Brazilian abolition movement. The choreography referenced the path to freedom for enslaved Brazilians, explored issues of cultural and educational politics, and affirmed the right of Diaspora peoples to celebrate, teach and learn our own culture, technique, and philosophy, as part of a larger and multicultural context, i.e., contemporary art and education.

In 1993, also in Bahia, Brazil, together with a group of dancers, musicians, choreographers and researchers, I founded the Companhia de Danca Negra da Bahia that led to an intense experimental artistic and educational effort, seeking to ìinvestigate the African-Brazilian traditions, rediscover the history of Black people and create an artistic project whose sound, movements and colors would give a contemporary dimension to Black dance.î In 1993, due to the success of the all effort to combine dance, culture, teaching , researching and to document my studies in video and articles, I was selected to contribute to a PBS and BBC-TV documentary entitled Dancing #5, New Worlds, New Forms as the representative for Brazilian dance, through classes and interviews.

From 1996 to 2003 I have taught, choreographed and performed in several dance departments in the United States. In 1996, I was invited by Northwestern University in Illinois to teach a dance workshop and a demonstration in Afro Brazilian Dance. Since then, I have been work as faculty or guest artist in may universities such as Brown University, Boston University, Wesleyan University, Universities of Wisconsin, of Massachusetts, Smith, Radcliff and Wellesley Colleges, MIT, and Hampshire College, among others. How you can see on my CV, undergraduate and graduate students had performed as result of our semester studies.

In 1999, I choreographed and produced Ancestrais(Ancestors), a solo-performance of body and voice interacting with other media and art languages. In this piece, I incorporated Modern Brazilian Dance with the works of Brazilian composers such as Nana Vasconcelos and Bira Reis, as well as the visuals and text of African American Artists and intellectuals who led serious research on Afro Brazilian culture, such as Batik artist Ife Franklin, sculptor Walter B. Clark, and photographer Reginald Jackson. Ancestrias has been performed at the Italian/Brazilian Festival: Cantar Da Costa, as well performed in many faculty and student concerts (1999 to 2003) and had incorporated students from the MIT, Wellesley and Smith Colleges and from The Dance Complex.

In 2002, I co-produced Iwa Pele (ee-wah pe-LAY). This was an experimental group centered on the study of Traditional African Diasporic Culture for the ultimate purpose of creating contemporary and modern performance works. Iwa Pele in Yoruba means good character, integrity, and the essence of a person and vividly evokes the rites of Orisha tradition through dance and music. Also in this project I had a chance to promote an exchange between students from the communities and universities.

In 2004, I won a scholarship and earned certification as a Yoga Teacher at the Synergy Center for Yoga and Healing in Miami, Florida. This training has enhanced and deepened my knowledge about the connection between the body and spirituality and technique as it informs dance.

After living seven years in Boston, I relocated to the Bay Area of California in 2005 in search of equivalent teaching situations and students in warmer climes. I am currently a cultural educator and member of Community Arts Advocates, a nonprofit organization, cultivating ongoing fundamental relationships between artists and communities. Also I am a member of the Black Yoga Teacher Association in the Bay Area. Sponsored by Dimensions Dance Theater I teach Afro Brazilian Dance at the Malonga Center for the Arts. I have taught Master Classes and Lecture Demonstrations at the University of California of Santa Cruz. I just received an invitation to teach a dance workshop at the Hollins University in VA.

The Orix·s are African Yoruban divinities. They are revelations of the spiritual power of the highest-ranking deity. They are the mediators between the Supreme Being of Olorun and believers. The Orix·s are ancestors as well as forces of nature.

Artistic Statement of Isaura Oliveira

November 1, 2005

Programs Description with Photographs & PDF Files

Tour Schedule

Artist Statement

Mosaic Cultural Educational Programs

Jorge Arce and Humano Afro-Caribbean Workshop Jennifer Armstrong Scottish & American Music & Folklore Stephen Baird Street Performer with Music, Puppets & Lore Behind the Mask - Eric Bornstein Master Maskmaker workshops and performances Victor Cockburn Artist-in-Education Specialist Cornell Coley Drums and Dance Carey Dardompre Haitian and African Diaspora Cultural Programs Wendy Jehlen Bharata Natyam Classical Indian Dance + Contemporary Dance + ASL Interpreting Alice Johnson and Andy Holiner Celebrating Diversity Multicultural Programs Jeff Kesses: East Coast Portraits Portraits in Oils, Pastels and Charcoal La Pinata and Rosalba Solis Latin American Cultural Family Network Charlot Lucien Haitian Creole "Kreyol" Cultural Griot Barbara Michaels Clown, Stiltwalker, Improvisation & Theater Artist Isaura Oliveira African Brazilian Dance, Music & Folklore Frederick Law Olmsted one man play by Gerry Wright Guy Peartree Historical Characterizations, Storytelling and Folktales Veronica Robles Mexican Mariachi, Dance and Culture Lester Scafidi New England Music, Stories & Folklore Leonard Solomon The Bellowphone Show - Comedy, Juggling and Music Theresa-India Young Primal Arts Master Weaver Wildest Dreams Original World-Beat Soul Band ASL Interpreting by Wendy Jehlen can be provided for CAA programs Community Arts Advocates Site Map

Copyright 1999-2005 by Stephen Baird