Of Dogs and Clowns

‘If you shake a tree in Barão Geraldo, a few clowns will fall out’ says my host Simi (otherwise known as Carlos Simioni, the longest-standing member of LUME Teatro). It’s that sort of place…

And it’s true that within 24 hours of arriving in this small town on the edge of Campinas, I’ve already been to see one clown show – E Houve Luz, an engaging duet from female clowns Olga Manganotti and Carla Marazzato, presented at Boa Companhia’s charmingly-named Teatro Útero de Vênus (the Womb of Venus) – and it seems that everyone I meet here is a clown, actor or musician.

LUME have been here in Barão Geraldo since 1985. They are now housed in a very lovely building of their own – a proper home, replete with kitchen and fireplaces and verandas, with an adjoining workspace, a children’s room, and a generous garden. But this didn’t come all at once: walking out to our local bar (the Espacos dos Amigos – more on that later), Simi points out a church and says that this was once LUME’s home – they were based in the adjoining hall for the first eight or so years of their existence, until they acquired the current house in 1994.

The company – which is dedicated to the art of the actor and to the role of the actor-creator – work as a collective, led by seven actors and supported by a team of producers, technicians and administrators. The ‘sede do LUME’ is like a beehive buzzing with activity – and this is before the February madness descends, so who knows what it’ll be like a week from now!

If you are reading this, you are probably aware that February is the month in which LUME opens its doors to the world. There are ten workshops to choose from, most led by company members with some led by guest facilitators, in tandem with an extensive programme of symposia, performances, lecture-demonstrations – oh, and in the first week (Saturday 4 February, 8pm) an intriguing evening with Renato Ferracini entitled ‘Palestra Corpo-em-Arte com cerveja’. ‘With beer… hmmm! I’m reminded of the fact that the word ‘symposium’ in the original Greek means ‘with wine’, Socrates and friends feeling that wine was crucial to keep the conversation flowing. Except that this is Brazil, so it is beer not wine that will keep the artistic juices watered.

For I’ve also been reminded, in just a few days back here in Brazil (my second visit), that it is hard to avoid the amber nectar. I don’t even like beer, but I find myself unable to say no – especially as it is in the company of friends, in one of the many bars featuring live music.

Here in Barão Geraldo, the place to gather is the friends’ place – the Espaço dos Amigos. It’s typical small-town Brazil: semi-outdoors, furnished with big round rickety tables and yellow plastic chairs. Dogs snuffle under the tables for discarded potato fries, and smoking is pretty much compulsory. All human life is here – or all Brazilian life anyway. There are the muscle-bound boys in shorts and football shirts, and the girls in too-tight dresses and ultra-high heels, eyeing each other up. On the dancefloor, a lone female dancer gyrates in tight jeans and t-shirt, eyes half closed, and a lone male dancer, a good four decades older, is dapperly dressed in striped shirt, belted trousers and proper leather shoes, his hat at a rakish angle. The samba band plays, and they each move in their own world, a huddle of intense energy and staccato footwork – she in time to the music, he in his very own time zone. On the surrounding tables, people chatter loudly, eating plates of fried food and drinking beer – with the occasional cachaça (sugar cane rum) thrown in for good measure. Cachaça is served straight here, in liqueur glasses full to the brink: none of that fancy caipirinhas fruit-and-ice nonsense.

Missing from Espaço dos Amigos is the middle-class ‘hippy’ crowd you find in many cafes and restaurants around town. Barao Geraldo is known for its alternative culture: it’s not overwhelmingly present in a way you’d find, say, in European cities such as Brighton or Barcelona – but there are a fair few organic food shops, vegetarian restaurants, and cafes selling specialist health juice drinks. But all this is a long way, culturally, from the Espaco dos Amigos!

Walking home from the bar – almost everywhere in Barão Geraldo is walking distance – is a reminder that if there is a clown on every corner in Barão Geraldo, there is also a dog in every yard. Walking down the street, you are greeted at every gate by a loud bark, an excited yap, or a nasty snarl. There are big bald dogs, and small hairy dogs. Angry dogs and cheery dogs. Dogs of every shape, size, breed, colour. Some houses have two or three or more dogs. Each pushes its nose up to the gate and communicates with the passer-by in its own sweet way. I spent my first day here leaping a foot into the air with every step taken, but have since learnt to walk in the centre of the road, rather than right next to the gates – which is what everyone here does anyway as the pavements are pretty much taken up with obstacles of one sort or another. I’ve even taken to talking back to the dogs – but I don’t think they understand English.

So, now I feel I’ve arrived. I’m esconsed in a beautiful room in a beautiful house, I’ve been to a fair few bars and cafes, and I’ve met a great number of clowns and dogs.

Today, Tuesday, I’m meeting with Naomi Silman and Carlota Cafiero to prepare The Living Room / Sala de Estar, which will be a physical and space at LUME dedicated to the evaluation and documentation of the coming month. It’ll work alongside this blog, the new Facebook group (Terra Lume 2012, do join!), and Poeta’s filmed documentation, to create a living, changing record of this coming month. We are on the cusp…

For full details of the workshop programme and Terra LUME events, see here.