Sesc Copacabana Honors Mercedes Baptista with Artistic Occupation

Sesc Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro is hosting an artistic occupation honoring Mercedes Baptista, the first Black ballerina of Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, from November 5 to December 30, 2021. The program marks the venue's reopening after over a year and a half closed. It includes the theatrical performance 'Mercedes' by Grupo EMÚ, exploring Black identity in Brazilian dance through real and fictional elements of Baptista's life. A photographic exhibition, 'Mercedes Baptista: a dama negra da dança,' curated by her biographer Paulo Melgaço, displays images from different periods of her life. Thiago Sacramento's video installation 'Ijo' features dancers creating spectral light images on an LED screen. Starting November 12, 'Cartas para Mercedessssssss,' a project by choreographer Carmen Luz, presents three works—danced, plastic, and sonic—that imagine dialogues between Baptista's biography and the lives of the involved artists. On November 23, Grupo Dembaia, a collective of Black women from Rio dedicated to West African cultures, performs with composer and actress Doralyce. Percussionist Kaio Ventura leads a lecture on African percussion methodology on November 24. Baptista, born in Campos dos Goytacazes in 1921, was a key precursor of Afro dance in Brazil and worldwide; she died in 2014, and 2021 would have been her centenary.