The 8th Spirit of Brazil Festival was a wonderful success. Presented as part of the SF International Arts Festival, the performance concerts were presented to a full house at Fort Mason’s Gallery 308 Theater. Spirit of Brazil ‘19 presented the artistic elements of Capoeira through new choreography and a fusion of contemporary and traditional music, dance, and martial arts from Brazil.
Unfortunately, Artistic Director, Mestra Márcia Treidler was hospitalized just three days prior to the premier opening. As a result, our performers and production stepped up, helped out, and cooperated to make sure the show went on as planned. It was a beautiful thing to witness and experience. There was a collective sense of leadership, and a true spirit of cooperation. Our performers and production crew pulled together and demonstrated their extreme professionalism, their collaborative spirit, and their unwavering dedication to both the art of Capoeira and to ACSF.
While it was obviously extremely unfortunate that Mestra Márcia was unable to lead the presentation, it was an amazing opportunity to see our community and our highly skilled and seasoned performers rally together and get the job done!
In the end, the performance was a huge success and it was a unique and validating experience for Mestra Márcia, who was able to come to the closing show on Sunday and watch from the audience (first time ever that she was not in the show!) the fruits of her labor play out on stage. Bravo!
HUGE THANK YOU TO:
OUR performance company cast who volunteered their time and talent; ALL the visiting instructors and students; ALL who volunteered at the events; Katherine Kemerait for housing guest instructors; Giorgia Peckman and Antonio Contreras for managing costume and stage logistics; and Efrain Chavez, Alex Castillo, and Sophia Piu Piu for helping with front of house set up and logistics, and for everyone who took photographs and video.
The Spirit of Brazil was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and SF Grants for the Arts. We are deeply grateful to all of our generous funders. Projects like this would not be possible without their vital support!
