segunda-feira, 23 de novembro de 2009

Escala SEABRA para Dança, Performance, e Teatro de má qualidade.

Após um bom número de anos assistindo performances e freqüentando festivais no Brasil e na Europa, notei tendências e “clichês” que contribuem para a má performance. Estes clichês são convenções antigas que ainda são usadas porque, aparentemente, tornam o trabalho “mais artístico”. Acredito, entretanto, que são esses clichês que fazem com que muito da arte contemporânea tenha má fama. Assim, listo abaixo 20 itens que os artistas deveriam evitar enquanto criando ou apresentando seus trabalhos de dança, performance ou teatro.

Permitam-se nomear estes 20 itens de Escala SEABRA para dança, performances e teatro de má qualidade:

• Looping. Não faça looping de sons ou imagens. O uso contínuo das teclas Control C e Control V no seu computador reflete preguiça e serve a artistas que não estão interessados em gastar seu tempo criando trihas sonoras ou vídeos adequados. Além disso, é tããããão anos oitenta...

• Dois atores ou performers jamais deverão dizer diferentes textos ao mesmo tempo. Esta é uma convenção que teve seu início no Dadaismo. Só porque as pessoas não conseguem entender o que você diz não significa que seja arte.

• Nenhum olhar distante, perdido ou blasé, especialmente enquanto caminhando em linha reta.

• Este é para dançarinos: Não usar o movimento calcanhar-dedão-calcanhar-dedão lateralmente e não dobrar os braços para baixo na altura dos cotovelos. Em outras palavras, nada de movimentações típicas da dança contemporânea; não imitem os dançarinos anos 70 da Judson Church.

• Sem artifícios. Não aja de maneira obscura nem tente “artificializar” um conceito. Se você tiver algo a dizer, apenas diga. A clareza também pode ser artística.

• Nenhum “momento água”. Por favor, não derrame água, nem em você nem em outro artista.

• Por favor, não alinhe objetos em cena, por qualquer motivo.

• Esta é para brasileiros: nenhum momento Clarice Lispector. Por favor, não puxe um livro de Clarice Lispector pra fora do bolso e comece a ler (especialmente se alguém estiver derramando água em você).

• Nenhuma atuação exagerada ou em alto volume. Menos.

• Não crie uma “peça para ator”. Em outras palavras, não crie uma peça na qual um ator (ou atriz, ou dançarino/a, ou performer) possa exibir suas múltiplas habilidades.

• Esta é para europeus: chega de tentar chocar suas platéias o tempo todo.

• Esta TAMBÉM é para europeus: poupe-nos de suas crises de identidade.

• Esta é para dançarinos brasileiros: não importem a crise de identidade européia.
Brasileiros não estão em crise de identidade.

• Esta é para asiáticos: sem raios laser no palco, por favor.

• Esta é para americanos: se você precisa fazer crescer seu personagem ou desenvolver sua história, por favor não os envolva em um acidente de carro ou um diagnóstico de câncer. Existem outras maneiras de desenvolver uma história.

• Nenhuma porcaria MIDI. Não designe sons digitais a corpos celestiais ou objetos inanimados. MIDI é um brinquedinho desinteressante. (E é também tãããããão anos 80).

• Nenhuma trilha sonora com ruídos eletrônicos...o mundo já é suficientemente barulhento.

• Abster-se de usar composições dodecafônicas dos anos 20. Usar esse tipo de coisa na sua peça não transforma você em moderno. Faz com que você fique moderne (com sotaque francês).

• Não usar referências à Commedia dell´Arte. Hellooo? Será que a gente não poderia dar um descanso à Commedia dell´Arte?

• Finalmente, se você tiver que mencionar a palavra “teatro” em sua performance, NUNCA o faça ao mesmo tempo em que levanta os braços, posicionando um calcanhar no chão e dedos do pé pra cima (numa postura de Arlequim....isso é tãããão anos 1780).

Um diretor disse, certa vez, para não nos preocuparmos se estivermos fazendo algo que já assistimos antes. “Apenas transforme em uma coisa sua”, disse ele. OK. Mas os elementos acima citados são demasiadamente freqüentes nas performances contemporâneas e deveriam ser banidos por pelo menos duas gerações, a fim de “dar um tempo” para a Arte.

Agora, se um dos elementos acima citados aparece em sua performance, não é grave. Você pontuou -1 na Escala Seabra. Se você conseguir remover este elemento de sua performance você poderá ter uma boa performance.

Mas se você pontuou menos 2 a menos 3 pontos: lamento, mas você provavelmente criou uma má performance.

Menos 4 a 8 pontos: é por causa de artistas como você que a Arte tem má fama.

A partir de menos nove pontos: por favor devolva qualquer subsídio público que você recebeu para produzir este lixo e trate de encontrar uma nova profissão.

Finalmente, se você levantou os braços e pronunciou a palavra “Teatro” em uma peça, isto leva você, automaticamente, à pontuação máxima de menos 20 pontos. Platéias deveriam retirar-se imediatamente.

segunda-feira, 9 de novembro de 2009

domingo, 18 de outubro de 2009

A Vergonha das Olimpíadas... já temos história...

Não devemos nos esquecer que a Cidade Candidata às Olimpíadas de 2000, Brasília, foi pedido a retirar a sua candidatura por causa dos escândalos do Collor na época (pela primeira vez na história do Comitê Olímpico Internacional) . O Rio tem que ter cuidado... vai ter que tomar jeito... e pacificar rápidamente TODAS as favelas do Rio. Pode acontecer de novo do COI pedir pela primeira vez que uma cidade SEDE perca o seu status de cidade sede e para passar o título para o segundo colocado. Guerra em favela não é comportamento olímpico.

quarta-feira, 14 de outubro de 2009

The SEABRA SCALE for Bad Dance, Performance and Theater.

After a number of years of watching performances and attending festivals in Brazil and Europe I have noticed tendencies and clichés that make for bad performance. These clichés are old conventions that are used because they (apparently) make pieces more “artistic”. However, these clichés, I believe, are what give a lot of contemporary art a bad name. So below is a list of 20 things artists should avoid when creating or showing works of Dance, Performance Art or Theater.

Allow me to call this the 20 point SEABRA SCALE for Bad Dance, Performance and Theater.

1. Looping. Don't loop sounds or images. Multiple usage of the Control C and Control V keys on your computer reflects laziness and is for artists who don't want to take the time to create a proper soundtrack or a video. Plus... it’s sooo 80s.

2. No two actors should speak different texts at the same time. This is a convention that started sometime during the Dada years. Just because people can't understand what you are saying doesn't mean it's art.

3. No distant, lost or blasé stares especially while walking in straight lines.

4. This is for the dancers: No toe-heel-toe-heel to the side and no mime like bending arms at the elbow. In other words don't imitate Judson Church dancers of the 70s.

5. No arty-fartiness. Don't get cryptic or try to “artify” a concept. If you have something to say... just say it. Clarity can also be artistic.

6. No water moment. Please don't pour water on yourself or another artist.

7. Please don't line up objects on stage for no reason.

8. This is for Brazilians: No Clarice Lispector moment. Please don't pull out a Clarice Lispector novel and start reading from it (especially while someone is pouring water over you!).

9. No exaggerated and loud acting. Chill.

10. Don't make a “piece for actors”. In other words don’t make a piece in which an actor can show off his or her multiple abilities.

11. This is for Europeans: Stop trying to shock your audiences all the time.

12. This is ALSO for Europeans: Spare us your identity crises.

13. This is for Brazilians dancers: Don't import the European identity crisis. Brazilians are not having an identity crisis.

14. This is for Asians: No lasers on stage, please.

15. This is for Americans: If you need your character to grow or your story to develop please don't involve them (or a loved one) in a car accident or give them cancer. There are other ways a story can develop.

16. No MIDI crap. Don't sample a sound and plug it into the wave lengths of the celestial bodies or inanimate objects. They don't sound like anything. MIDI is an uninteresting toy. (It’s also sooo 80s).

17. No electronic noise soundtracks... the world is noisy enough.

18. No dodecaphonic compositions from the 1920s. Using this stuff in your piece doesn’t make you modern. It makes you moderne (with a French accent).

19. No Commedia dell'arte references. Hello?! Can we give Commedia dell'arte a rest?

20. Finally, if you have to mention the word "theater" in your performance NEVER say it while lifting your arms up with your heel on the ground and toes pointed upward (posing like some Harlequin... that’s sooo 1780s)

A director once said not to worry if you are performing something that you have already seen done before. “Just make it your own”, he said. Fine. But the above elements are far too frequent in contemporary performance and should be banned for at least two generations in order to give Art a breather.

Now, if one of the above elements appears in your performance that’s not too bad. You have scored a minus 1 on the SEABRA SCALE. If you remove this element from your piece you might have a good performance.

But if you scored minus 2 to 3 points: Sorry, you have probably made a bad performance.

Minus 4 to 8 points: Artists like you give Art a bad name.

9 and above points: Please return any public funds you received to produce this crap and find another career.

Finally if you did lift your arms and say the word Theater! in a piece this gives you an automatic maximum score of minus 20. Audiences should walk out immediately.

segunda-feira, 12 de outubro de 2009

domingo, 4 de outubro de 2009

Mercedes Sosa

My most important artistic reference passed away today. I used to say in art school that all i wanted as an artist was to move people the way Mercedes Sosa's voice moved me... to to create things as beautiful as her voice.

sexta-feira, 11 de setembro de 2009

quinta-feira, 3 de setembro de 2009

Mergulhão no Centro do Rio

Hoje apareceu uma discussão no GLOBO sobre um projeto para construir dois mergulhões na Av. Rio Branco no Rio. Arquitetos e urbanistas cariocas são, realmente não sabem pensar a cidade... Se for escavar no centro do Rio então aproveita para fazer mais metrô e não lugar para carro. O Rio de Janeiro só tem 2 linhas de metrô. Nova York tem 21 linhas. Precisamos de bem mais (pelo menos 7 linhas). Metrô debaixo da Rio Branco. Metrô debaixo da 1º de Março, Mem de Sá, Av. Maracanã etc. Só com muito mais metrô é que acabaremos com a mafia dos onibus, tornar o Rio menos barulhento e mais ágil em termos de circulação.

Só pra vcs terem uma ideia do ridículo que é o nosso metrô:

- Nova York, pop. 8,3 milhões tem 368 km de metró / 468 estações.

- Cidade do Mexico pop. 8,8 milhões tem 201 km de metrô / 163 estações.

- Hong Kong pop. 7 milhões tem 174 km de metrô / 82 estações.

- Santiago do Chile pop. 5 milhões tem 102.4 km / 104 estações.

- Rio de Janeiro pop. 6,1 milhões tem 42 km / 33 estações. (!)

domingo, 12 de julho de 2009

Diogo Mainardi... quite uninteresting

Esse comentarista do Manhattan Connection adora ser um tipo de Bill O'Reilly do Brasil. Pra ele o Obama é um ingênuo por ter escrito um ensaio a favor do desarmamento nuclear na época do Reagan e o Obama (de acordo com o Mainarde) também não sabe onde fica Tegucigalpa. Mainarde queridinho... Aposto que o Obama sabe onde fica Tegucigalpa sim e sempre soube. Nós esquerdistas no anos 80 (como eu e Obama que somos da mesma geração) eramos contra a proliferação nuclear e sabiamos da história da opressão americana na América Central. Era justamento o sabiamos melhor. O Mainarde gosta de ser um pseudo-extremista. As opiniões dele não chocam tanto. Ele simplesmente deve ter uma admiração pela lógica republicana (à la Rusch Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan e O'Reilly)... e ele sacou que ele pode fazer grana falando essas frases de efeito republicanas traduzidas para o português.

quarta-feira, 1 de julho de 2009

FIFA DO SOMETHING!

I hope FIFA or at least the Brazilian Soccer Federation do something to curb the fanatic praying rituals of Brazilian soccer players on the field after games. The images of players crying, praying and using "I Belong to Jesus" t-shirts is just plain wacky.

terça-feira, 30 de junho de 2009

domingo, 28 de junho de 2009

Michael Jackson is dead. Long live Michael Jackson.

Last night I went to a cabaret in the area of Praça Mauá. Cool place. Very hip. Funny skits and arty stripteasers. At one point the DJ played Michael Jackson. The place burst into dance and mainly smiles and pure happiness.

When Princess Diana died everyone was shocked and sad.

When Lennon died everyone was shocked and sad.

But in this case everyone wants to rejoice and sing and dance and show how much a part of his or her life Jackson actually is. It's quite amazing. One Canadian choreographer with whom I spoke said she, in a way, that it was better that Jackson left us now for we were spared witnessing him get involved in more scandals and turning into an even bigger freak.

But Jackson gave the world so much joy when you think about it. We could only rejoice. Last night watching all those people partying I felt as if Santa Claus was born.

quinta-feira, 25 de junho de 2009

quarta-feira, 17 de junho de 2009

sexta-feira, 15 de maio de 2009

Tiny Grow

http://www.box7box.com/tinygrow.html
A very cute game which just takes figuring out on your own.

iSnort

sexta-feira, 1 de maio de 2009

Triest foto aanslag op Koninginnedag / Sad photo from Queen's Day attack


The Queen's Day tradegy in Holland is summed up in this picture (a still frame) I got from a video report. Violence is such a bizarre choice.

segunda-feira, 13 de abril de 2009

Are you an Oscar Niemeyer fan? Call for entries will soon be announced to submit architectural and landscaping designs for 1 square kilometer

in Brasilia's center; The so called Setor Cultural Norte and Setor Cultural Sul. If you are interested please email us at yo@rickyseabra.com and you will be notified of the Call for Entries. No fees will be involved. No Regulations. You don't even have to be an architect. Just keep in mind that these are Cultural sectors and we hope that your ideas somehow "go with Brasilia". Works will be exhibited in 2010 during a seminar/exhibit commemorating Brasilia's 50 anniversary. Questions? Email yo@rickyseabra.com

50 Anos de Brasilia: Você já desenhou (ou conhece alguem que já desenhou) um projeto para os Setores Culturais Norte e Sul no centro de Brasilia?

Sim? Entre em contato com yo@rickyseabra.com para que o seu projeto faça parte de uma exposição/seminário para os 50 Anos de Brasilia (entre abril e setembro de 2010).

quarta-feira, 8 de abril de 2009

Wisp O'er a Wing


Been away from home for 4 weeks but now i'm back. .... hmmmm i think this is the first time i called Rio home. I'm trying hard to make my tiny apartment here in Copacabana feel like a home and not student flat/pied a terre (which it currently looks like). So here is a pic from my flight back from Belo Horizonte (which by the way was fabulous). Had the best time hanging out with Espanca theater group.

sexta-feira, 20 de março de 2009

quinta-feira, 5 de março de 2009

Escrevam para este arcebispo idiota

dizendo que ele deve excomungar o estrupador e não a familia da criança: (ele pode aproveitar e se excomungar de burrice tambem):

Dom José Cardoso Sobrinho

No “fale conosco” do site deles registrem o seu protesto no:
http://www.arquidioceseolindarecife.org.br/falmang.htm

Ou por carta:
Av. Afonso Olindense, 1764
Várzea - Recife - PE
CEP 50810-000

Ou fone:
(81) 3271.4270

site: www.arquidioceseolindarecife.org.br

Vamos achar endereço e telefone do arcebispo de Olinda

Então, a igreja católica acaba de excomungar a mãe da criança e os médicos que realizaram o aborto na menina de onze anos abusada pelo padrasto. A excomunhão foi anunciada pelo arcebispo de Olinda e de Recife, dom José Cardoso Sobrinho.

Por quê não excomngar o padrasto estrupador??? A igreja católica é tão burra. E por isso devemos excomungar o próprio arcebispo de Olinda dom josé Cardoso Sobrinho.

Vamos começar uma campanha. Vou tentar achar telefone e endereço do arcebispo.

beijos e fui (abalar Olinda em chamas!)

sábado, 14 de fevereiro de 2009

I caught dengue fever.

Damned mosquitos. But friends are taking good care of me. I think the worst has passed. Lot´s of muscle pain throughout the entire body. Very sleepy. some red spots on face and arms. And always feeling mildly nauseous. Fortunately I don´t have the viscious headaches. Incredible what a little mosquito can do to you.

domingo, 8 de fevereiro de 2009

quinta-feira, 5 de fevereiro de 2009

quarta-feira, 4 de fevereiro de 2009

David After Dentist

Probably one of the funniest YouTube videos ever:

sexta-feira, 30 de janeiro de 2009

Amazônia sofreu destruição de 17% em cinco anos, diz ONU

In the past 5 years Amazon loses enough trees to cover Venezuela. holy shit.

sexta-feira, 23 de janeiro de 2009

Bush Hangover

You know... I'm actually feeling hungover after all that fuckin' Bush crap of 8 years. I'm actually feeling quite angry all of a sudden... I think I'm angry because of the amount of Bush's crimes we will forget in the near future.

quinta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2009

Come Away With Me

Here's a little film about the many flights I took in 2008.

Inauguration Day

I can't say that Obama moves me. He is too professorial. I like it when he smiles or tells a subtle joke. What moved me the day of the inauguration was the whole thing - that fact that the US could finally show (not just say) that we are no longer a racist nation (or at least in its majority). The image of the Rosa Park bus riding behind the motorcade was particularly moving to me. That first reverend saying the Our Father was inappropriate... Why would an American do that on such an occasion. It's called petulance. Fuckin' idiot. The last reverend on the other hand summed up the hopes for American diversity wonderfully and with humor: Black, don't step back. Brown, stick around. White, get it right. Yellow, stay mellow, Red, get ahead. We can finally truly smile about race. Wish I was there with my brother and cousin.

So here we are with a new president in the US. Will it make a difference? So much of the tension between the west and Islam exists because of the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And I can't say I'm too confident in Hillary as Secretary of State. After all, it was under Bill Clinton that Israel (Netanhayu) got away with murder in doing nothing about the constant squatting of Arab land by Jewish settlers. James Rubin (the jackass) did nothing. Clinton did nothing as well. After all those accords, all the negotiations, they let Israeli squatters set the tone for decades to come. I don't doubt that Hillary will do and say the right things in Africa, the UN and elswhere... It's about Israel/Palestine. I have my doubts that Hillary Clinton will be anything new under the sun.

sexta-feira, 16 de janeiro de 2009

Sometimes

Jesus... it took me years to find this video! I've been looking for it since I first saw it in Barcelona 9 years ago! Lack of web-presence can be very annoying. How can such a good video be so hard to find?

quinta-feira, 15 de janeiro de 2009

quarta-feira, 14 de janeiro de 2009

While searching for Paradise....


At least once a week I go into Google Earth just browse over our Planet. I start off far out in space, set the planet a-spinning with my cursor and the stop it abruptly with a click- - an action that used to require an entire arm and hand and a real globe. After stationary I click on the zoom-in button and soar downward to someplace somewhere. When I reach a few kilometers above the ground I scan around looking for beautiful places. I click on those Panaramio pictures as well. Well, yesterday, while searching for paradise I zoomed in from outerspace right on to this image... two nuclear craters from the 1950's tests at Enewetak on the US Marshall Islands, one of them neatly capped by a dome. How considerate. Time to go back into space.

segunda-feira, 12 de janeiro de 2009

Any form of dialogue that involves power OVER the other instead of power WITH the other has no chance to bring about lasting peace.

From my skypefriend Danielle.

No Wonder the Earth is Getting Warmer


World Air Traffic Over 24 Hours - For more funny movies, click here
Well... in 2008 I was in at least 40 of those moving dots...

Some make war. Some just wanna fly.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Go Back to 1947 Borders: Spread the Word!


From a design perspective the 1947 UN Partition of Palestine and Israel is the most intelligent division of the two territories. With the use of a simple overpass or tunnel each country would have contiguous borders. A Palestinian or an Israeli could drive a car from Lebanon to Egypt in their own countries without needing to drive through the other's country.

Incredible how the Israelis have been gobbling up Arab land for all these years and no one does a thing. Incredible that East Timor and Montenegro have gained independence in the past years and Palestine nothing. The UN's darkest day will be if Kosovo gains independence before Palestine. Nothing will be more shameful.

domingo, 4 de janeiro de 2009

Retrospective 2008

Plane-spotting on Google Earth


Found this plane flying south of the Fort of Copacabana between Ipanema and Copacabana.

quinta-feira, 1 de janeiro de 2009

New Year's Resolutions

Fix my back.
Learn the viola caipira (10 string Brazilian Country Guitar)
that's all.

quarta-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2008

On New Years & Astronauts

A new year. A date, a time. A threshold that makes us emotional.. This emotion, for me, is always hard to define... a sort of neediness. (it's different than that of Christmas which has more to do with childhood, nostalgia, family). This one has more to do with doing the right thing at midnight. It's not anxiety though. It has something to do with doing the right thing....

Preparation.

Maybe astronauts feel this way before launch. They're on to something new... but the hard work involved is daunting. The checklist is great. Nothing can go wrong.

Then the time comes and there are explosions. Light. People look to the sky and cheer. The heart rises, rises and a happiness comes to our cheeks and eyes.... we made it. The spectacle fades in the sky. Our hopes carried away on smokey clouds that skim the earth sideways. Sky empty, we now know its up to us to make our hopes rise throughout the year.

terça-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2008

quinta-feira, 25 de dezembro de 2008

terça-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2008

Star of Wonder by the Roches

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs. The video is not by the Roches but of some fan. Enjoy the voices. Merry Christmas!

Morning Glory


Today I understood why they call it Morning Glory. This morning waking up at my mom's place here in Brasilia the Morning Glory glow in the morning's first light. It seems like the light is coming from within the center of the flower.

quinta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2008

When Sexy Hottie Is Having Brain

Review of Ricky Seabra's Empire, Love to Love You, Baby from the Mobile Lab for Theatre and Communication written in "Gonzo journalism style" in which critics react to a piece and don't reveal their identity.
(I wish a few of them had manifested their attraction to me in Ljubljana... I might have gotten laid...)

Review: When Sexy Hottie is Having Brain

Aw, aw, could you imagine what a cutie I saw yesterday in the theatre in Ljubljana!...On a stage, by the way, not in the audience. That was the moment when I remembered my wonderings about turning to boy-lover profession, still, I stayed to chicks (it’s just easier somehow). Righty then, the thing was that he had a solo performance called Empire. I love to love you, baby (well, you see, what I’m tryin’ to say, uh?). It was about The States and the old stuff with them: patriotic madness and military obsessions. But haba- haba, mummy llliked the guy, Ricky Seabra!!! What a body, what skin, although, no big wonder, coz he was from Brazil and he had just returned from the desert sands. Having had a pretty rough tour through different countries, something like European, can’t remember, but it isn’t so important. What a sense of humour, my looord! I pissed my pants for about five times, and, no doubt, I wasn’t the only one. And at the same time he managed to kick butt of some serious problems and did it in different ways, using loads of videos - some live captured on the stage, some, taken from the net, projected on screen; then suddenly turning into transvestite or just ugly babe. He called himself Rickyoncé, you know, from where he pulled the strings, don’t ya? With that he crowned himself as the Empress of The States. Gosh, in some moments I thought that he’s gone with the birds – toot, toot!,- you know, the artist in that modern theatre bullshit sometimes has their little surprises. No, no, everything was O.K., he’s just a hell of a good actor. Though he has a designers degree.

The most terrifying moment was when he showed a compilation from disaster and shitty sci-fi blockbusters like Independence Day (is Will Smith still alive, by the way?) and The Day After. To see, how such a ‘great’ nation blows up their skyscrapers, Black House (haaah) and things like that, you really start to wonder what the hell is happening in their fatty heads. You had some shit in sunny September morning, didn’t you get the point? Why don’t you stop playing with your country like a mad farmer with his chainsaw? Other wicked episode was when he demonstrated porn photo collection of USA army soldiers and their Little Soldiers as well. Well, apparently those are the thingies they do to get some extra earnings while they're in service.

Yeah, Rickyoncé really knew exactly what he wanted to say with his work, which, I suppose, require much power from him. Remarkable guy, that’s for sure. Interesting, what he will do next, unless some guys with sunglasses and little earphones won’t visit him in late hours of the night to ask some simple questions by cup of tea…

Stanley H. Orny

domingo, 14 de dezembro de 2008

Nesses casos de reação a assalto sou a favor da Pena de Morte

Violência
Médica do Hospital Pérola Byington é baleada e morta em assalto no Rio Pequeno

Publicada em 13/12/2008 às 10h23m
Cleide Carvalho, O Globo, Jornal Hoje


Nadir Oyakawa, médica morta por ladrões

SÃO PAULO - A médica Nadir Oyakawa, de 53 anos, chefe do setor de Laser do Hospital Hospital Pérola Byington (Centro de Referência à Saúde da Mulher), foi baleada e morta na noite desta sexta-feira ao sair da casa de uma irmã na Rua Dr João Vieira Neves, no Rio Pequeno, na zona oeste de São Paulo. Por volta de 23h30m, Nadir estava dentro do carro, estacionado na porta da residência, quando três homens chegaram e anunciaram o assalto.

Imagens gravadas por uma câmera de segurança são a principal pista da polícia para identificar os criminosos que mataram a médica, mas há informações de que os ladrões estariam encapuzados. A câmera está instalada em um prédio em frente ao local do crime.

Segundo a polícia, eles teriam apontado a arma para sobrinhos da médica. Ela havia participado da festa de formatura de uma sobrinha e iria com a família a uma pizzaria, onde comemoraria o aniversário de outro sobrinho.
Imagens gravadas pelo prédio em frente ao local do crime
Trancada dentro do carro, Nadir passou a buzinar para chamar a atenção de vizinhos. Ela teria ainda gritado aos sobrinhos para correrem para dentro. Os bandidos chegaram a dar um soco no vidro do veículo, uma Zafira, e um deles atirou.

Nadir foi baleada com um tiro na altura do rim, sofreu hemorragia interna e morreu. Os bandidos fugiram a pé, sem levar nada, rumo à Favela do Sapé. Um dos criminosos estaria de camiseta branca. Os outros dois trajavam roupas vermelha e azul.

quarta-feira, 10 de dezembro de 2008

Ricky loves Empire – and Empire loves Ricky

by Andreja Kopac, November 22, 2008,
Exodos Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia

PREAMBLE BY Michel Foucault:
Sexuality is a part of our lives. It is a part of freedom that we enjoy in this world. We have to understand that there is, with our wishes, through our wishes, strength in new types of relationships, new ways of love and new forms of creation. Sex is not a destiny, it is an access to creative life. We are not supposed to find out that we are homosexual. Before that we have to create a gay way of living. Become gay.

Ricky Seabra: Don't criticize USA soldiers, fuck them!

Ricky then … Let me think … Until now I have heard of three Rickys. First is Ricky Martin, pop singer from the USA. Viva la Vida Loca. Second is Ricky Lake. Woman, moderator of her own talk show. (Actually she is Riki with a K). Third is Ricky, the famous Slovenian stripteaser. Part of the Chippendales group. Some people think he is the one of the most goodlooking strippers in Slovenia. The name Ricky has, at first glance, some certain pop connotations. Pop is written in the name. Performer Ricky Seabra has a father, who was by the age of 18 speaking 6 languages fluently. His mother is Brazilian with a special interest in antiques. Ricky has a childish dream to be an astronaut. His place to be was always the sky. Planes and aircrafts. Skyscrapers and towers. All together, crossing one another. Ricky is a graduated student of communication design and has a Master degree in industrial design. Studying in USA. Living in Rio. Because of the weather. Very nice. Very American.

And because Ricky really likes the sky and universe, he uses similar symbols for interpretation, or more precisely, deconstruction of American mythology. From this bunch of symbols he choses the following ones, starting from the air: American air bases, spread all over the map of the world, the American flag, proudly waving in the air, White house, Twin towers, Bombs bursting in air and finally – the American national anthem, starting with a black star - Whitney Houston, ending by a white star - Mariah Carey. Amazing. We can't really criticize any one of the singers. Or the performance at all. And especially not Ricky. He made a good piece. Entertaining one. With nice images, interesting lights, with a sense of healthy wittiness, a refreshing self-referenciality and some interesting interventions.

What did he actually do to present, represent and make fun of his own Empire? He simply became an empire! He undressed and dressed himself into a half Whitney - half Mariah. He became Ricky Martin, Riki Lake and Ricky, the striptease guy at the same time. Yes, he was convincing. Until the end, when he visually introduced a next possible empire – CHINA. With some chinese boys, imitating a boy band song ... As long as you love me ... As long as America loves China – or as long China loves America? This is a question. Hamletian one. So, as long as they love each other there will be peace on planet Earth. Poppishly terrifying. So, what about the Chinese? They already knew (since middle ages) how to become an Empire: If you want to be Empire, create an empire way of living. Become an empire. Imitation is possible.

CLOSING BY Michel Foucault:

EMPIRE is a part of our lives. It is a part of freedom that we are enjoying in this world. We have to understand that there is, with our wishes, through our wishes strength in new types of relationships, new ways of love and new forms of creation. EMPIRE is not a destiny, it is an access to creative life. We are not supposed to find out that we are PART OF THE EMPIRE. Before that we have to create an EMPIRE way of living. Become EMPIRE.

terça-feira, 9 de dezembro de 2008

Corcoran School of Art Class of 87

Today I was googling around a bit for colleagues/friends from my Foundation year at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. That was 1983-84 I believe. Anyone know the whereabouts of Roz Kuhn, Katherine Williams, Rosana Baptista from Bolivia?

segunda-feira, 8 de dezembro de 2008

Take off / Decolagem Santos Dumont

Here is a small vid of what is probably the most picturesque take-offs in the world. Just did it last week. Went to São Paulo for work.

domingo, 7 de dezembro de 2008

Menos América, Mais Ternura!

Segunda, 24 de novembro 2008

Text: Ana Schnabl

Ljubljana – O Festival Internacional Contemporâneo de Artes Cênicas Exodos está acontecndo esse dias de novembro e entre outras coisas assistimos a performance de Ricky Seabra Império, Love to Love You, Baby, que o artista apresenta duas vezes na grade do festival.



Neste projeto, Império, Love to Love You, Baby, Ricky Seabra desconstroi fixações nacionais americanas.

Antes de ser desenhista gráfico para Miramax Films, Seabra se formou bacharel em comunicação visual e fez mestrado em desenho industrial. Nove anos atrás deixou o seu emprego e se mudou para Amsterdam para se tornar contador de histórias – performando no palco.

Contra o imperialismo

Seabra é portador de um passaporte brasileiro assim como um americano e é justamente esta dualidade que legitima o seu projeto apresentado na última sexta e sábado no Plesni Teater Ljubljana (mais precisamente, o “Imperial PTL Thetater” como ele o denominou) imbutindo este projeto com uma conivência muito apreciada. Seabra, uma espécie de palestrante/performer se desafia a descontruir fixações nacionais – se não nacionalistas – americanas que muito eficientemente conseguem penetrar na pele, ou melhor nas “almas do indivíduos”. Passa também pela fantasmagória do fenomeno da cultura pop pós 11 de setembro enquanto explica que os fundamentos históricos que levaram a tudo isso vêem de longa data. Ele fala como os pontos de interrogação no final de certas frases do hino nacional americano foram apagados para que não houvesse dúvida quanto ao senso americano de igualdade, liberdade e coragem. Discute a santidade da bandeira americana, o símbolico slogan da guerra do Iraque “Support Your Troops” (Apoie as suas tropas), a supremacia ética do exército americano e outras formas de comportamento imperial. Sua performance/palestra é cômico e satírico e se assemelha com a de um “stand-up comedian” com um conceito dramatúrgico excelente composto de animações ao vivo, hits, programas de TV, projeções de sites na internet e uma coreografia muito bem pensado e persuasivo.

Com a aparição de Rickyoncé, a nova Imperatriz que aposta num bootyliscious Estados Unidos da América – a ironia das tendências imperialistas americanas é trazida para o absurdo. Seabra, que em sua versão travestida, oscila entre o ponto de vista de uma estrela da MTV e a lógica de um Quaker, tem muitas idéias sexys e sugestões de como os Filhos de Sam podem realmente dominar o mundo. De qualquer forma, Imperio, Love to Love You, Baby, deixa o espectador com uma impressão ambígua. Fazer pouco dos ícones e símbolos americanos e recontextualizando estas imagens, é de fato uma crítica e certamente o artista se posiciona contra o imperialismo de sua terra natal que origina de um conciente coletivo demônico (ou como o autor diz: é sobre “deep shit”. O alvo da ofensiva de Seabra porém não está limitado ao nacionalismo americano mas também aponta para a instituição de preconceito e estereótipos que não americanos alimentam sobre a América e o seu povo. Em outras palavras, Seabra não está tentando fazer apologias da identidade americana nem está tentando ser moralista, mas ele se coloca exatamente no lugar onde a maioria das pessoas veem os EUA: os disseminadores da verdade sagrada. Seabra não tenta forçar esta verdade em você mas apenas lança uma luz nos seus mecanismos.

quinta-feira, 4 de dezembro de 2008

quarta-feira, 3 de dezembro de 2008

Exodos 14 – Bringing the Potential of Power of Suppressed Spirits of Weakness to Life

01. december 2008

http://www.sigledal.org/index.php?id=12&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=944&cHash=474268ca4a

Katja Čičigoj

If theatre is the privileged interpreter/carrier of political potentiality, then contemporary performing arts practices are the privileged place of demonstrating the effects this potential has; as long as the issue of responsibility of the viewer to be the interpreter is not transformed into the responsibility of the viewer to co-create the performance. Performing (of) the body exposes the body as something, which is always (in-)a-process, transient, weak and vulnerable. Exodos Festival of Performing Arts had always in one way or another included political potentiality into its program, but this year the program primarily focused on dealing with the weaknesses of the body as weaknesses of a different kind – with performing (of) speaking and moving bodies on stage, the festival exposed the discriminating nature of the cultural practice, which designates particular movements and speech (that are of a different kind) as a »handicap«.

The audience was treated as a much more open community [compared to Raimund Hoghe, BH] in Ricky Seabra's multimedia performance Empire, Love to Love You, Baby with the embodiment of a bosomy blond – the Empress of the USA. Here we were again confronted with an obvious contradiction between the character and the body on stage but performing a different role: instead of building a cult historical personality manifested in a weak body, in Empire we had a fictional character in a young body, mockingly representing the body of America and exposing its hidden weakness. The audience was much more engaged not only due to excellent dramaturgy, but also because the artist was constantly addressing the audience directly, learned some Slovenian words and made references to simultaneous locations of the performance. Most important however was a general anti-American attitude of the audience, which on the other hand – being widely popular and fashionable around the globe - exposes a deep paradox of globalization, namely rejection of American culture (and not only the culture itself) had become global – a double paradox, embodied by Seabra's critique of American pop culture performed as a pop-performance, which in this way tackles the issue in a critical manner and performs a kind of auto-critique that is lacking in American culture.

translation: Barbara Hribar

terça-feira, 2 de dezembro de 2008

Less America, More Tenderness! (Review of Empire)


http://www.dnevnik.si/novice/kultura/1042224511

Monday, 24th of November 2008
Text: Ana Schnabl

Ljubljana –International Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts Exodos is taking place in these November days, and among others we saw a performance by Ricky Seabra Empire, Love to Love You, Baby, which he performed twice in the frame of the festival.

In his project Empire, Love to Love You, Baby, Ricky Seabra deconstructed American national fixations.
Formerly a graphic designer at Miramax, Seabra is a graduate of visual communications and Master of Arts in industrial design, who nine years ago quit his job and moved to Amsterdam to become a storyteller – mostly performing on stage.

Against Imperialism
Seabra owns a Brazilian as well as an American passport and this duality is exactly what legitimates his project, presented last Friday and Saturday at Plesni Teater Ljubljana (more precisely, at the “Imperial PTL Theatre”, as he called it) and grants this project with much appreciated connivance. Seabra as a kind of lecturer/performer takes on the task of deconstructing American national – if not nationalistic – fixations that are exceptionally successful and persistent in getting under the skin or rather into the »souls of individuals« and the phantasmagoria of pop culture phenomena following 9/11, while explaining at the same time that the historical foundations for all of this were laid long time ago. He talks about how the question marks at the end of particular lines of the American anthem were erased so that there would be no doubt of the American sense of equality, freedom and courage; he talks about the sacredness of the American flag, about the symbolic slogan "Support your troops" and ethical primacy of American army and other forms of Imperial attitude. His performance / presentation is comic and satiric and reminds one of a stand-up comedy with an excellent dramaturgical concept and make-up of live animations, music hits, TV shows, projections of websites and a very persuasive and thought-out choreography.

With the appearance of Rickyoncé - the new Empress who bets on bootylicious United States of America - the irony of American imperialistic tendencies is brought to absurdity: Seabra, who in his transvestite edition oscillates between the point of view of an MTV star and the logic of an average Quaker, has plenty of sexy ideas and suggestions about how the Sons of Sam could really rule the world. In any case, Empire, Love to Love You, Baby leaves the viewer with an ambiguous impression. Mocking the icons and American symbols and re-contextualizing this imagery surely comes out as a critique and the artist stands up against the imperialism of his home country, displayed on the level of a nation and originating from the demonic collective unconscious (or, as the author says, it's about »deep shit«). The target of Seabra's offensive however, is not limited just to American nationalism but also points to the institution of prejudice and stereotypes non-Americans foster about America and its people. In other words, he is not trying to be apologetic on behalf of American identity or be overtly moralizing, instead he puts himself exactly on the spot from which most people see USA: the disseminators of the holy truth. Seabra, however, doesn't try to force this truth on you instead he only displays its mechanisms.

translation: Barbara Hribar

domingo, 30 de novembro de 2008

Retro-blogging the beauty of flight


So I'll be posting some moments from the tour I did since August. The translation of the review in Slovenia will be arriving on Wednesday so I'll post it here as soon as possible in both Portuguese and English.

The tour was great. I got to fly a lot. I messed up my sleeping patterns. I suffered from a severe case of insomnia at one point. I thought ending my tour in Slovenia would make things worse but it actually didn't. Aside from meeting really sweet people in Slovenia (probably the warmest response I ever had to Empire) I started to sleep again. OK. It must have been because the tour was over and my body relaxed. But I think it was the snow, the winter. My body went into hibernation mode and I slept 11 hours one night and 10 the next. I was so happy to sleep again. I even slept on the plane upon my return which is something I can never do. I have these mini panic attacks if I sleep. I wake up startled. Indeed I did have one bad dream on the plane... I dreamed that the plane slammed into a hill... i could see it approach in front of the wing... i looked forward and could see the plane crumpling and burning from front to rear. I woke up and wondered, for the first time, why is it that I set myself up to fear flying when in fact i love sitting at the window and admire the beauty of flight, the motion of the clouds passing, the flaps on the wing moving, the plane banking shifting the sunlight etc? Why is it that I don't dream of the beauty of flight? So I'm trying to make that shift now. So to follow over the next days, weeks perhaps, will be videos and pictures I took from my airplane window of this beauty of flight I so much observe.

terça-feira, 25 de novembro de 2008

Manj Amerike, več nežnosti! (My first Slovenian Review)

(I hope to get this translated ASAP... I hear it's a good review!)

Novice.Dnevnik.si Novice/Pop/Kultura
14. festival sodobnih odrskih umetnosti Exodos
Manj Amerike, več nežnosti!

Pop/Kultura - ponedeljek, 24.11.2008 Tekst: Ana Schnabl

Ljubljana - Z dvema ponovitvama svojega zadnjega projekta Imperij, rad te imam rad, bejbi je v teh dneh na mednarodnem festivalu sodobnih odrskih umetnosti Exodos (ta se bo sicer sklenil jutri) nastopil Ricky Seabra.

Nekdanji Miramaxov oblikovalec, sicer diplomant vizualnih komunikacij in magister industrijskega oblikovanja, je pred približno devetimi leti opustil svojo dolgoletno zaposlitev, se preselil v Amsterdam in se posvetil pripovedovanju zgodb - predvsem odrskih.
Proti imperializmu

Seabra je lastnik brazilskega in ameriškega potnega lista, prav ta dvojnost pa legitimira omenjeni projekt, v petek in soboto predstavljen v Plesnem teatru Ljubljana (oziroma v Imperial PTL Theatre, kot ga je poimenoval sam), in mu daje dragoceno potuho. V njem se performerpredavatelj spopade z dekonstrukcijo ameriških nacionalnih, če ne že nacionalističnih fiksacij, ki še posebej uspešno in vztrajno ponikajo v "duše posameznikov" in fantazmagorijo pop kulture po prelomnem 11. septembru, nastavki zanje pa segajo globoko v zgodovino. Izpostavi razvoj ameriške himne, ki je kitice okrajšala za vprašaje in s tem odstranila dvom o ameriški egalitarnosti, svobodi in pogumu, svetinjo ameriške zastave, simbolni slogan "Support your troops" in etični primat ameriške vojske ter druge pojavne oblike imperatorske drže. Vse je prikazano na komičen, satiričen način, ki formalno spominja na dramaturško izvrstno zasnovano stand-up komedijo, nališpano z animacijo v živo, glasbenimi hiti, televizijskimi posnetki, projekcijami internetnih strani in prepričljivo koreografijo.

Ironija ameriških imperialističnih teženj je do skrajnosti privedena s pojavom Rickyoncé, nove vladarice, ki stavi na bootylicious Združene države Amerike: Seabra nam v svoji transvestitski različici, ki niha med stališči emtivijevske zvezde in povprečno kvekersko logiko, predstavi mnogo bolj seksi zamisli in predloge za prevlado Samovih potomcev. Imperij, rad te imam rad, bejbi ob tem pušča ambivalenten vtis. Zasmeh ameriške simbolike in rekontekstualizacija podob učinkujeta kritično, avtor se izreče proti imperializmu matične domovine, ki se izkazuje na nacionalni ravni, v kolektivni zavesti, izvira pa iz demoničnega kolektivnega nezavednega (ali, kot pravi avtor, pri tem gre za "deep shit"). Tarča Seabrove ofenzive pa ob tem ni zgolj ameriški nacionalizem, temveč tudi institucija predsodkov in stereotipov, ki jih o Ameriki in njenih ljudeh vneto gojimo Neameričani (glej zadnji stavek). Ne trudi se z apologijo ameriške identitete, niti s pretiranim moraliziranjem, ostane točno tam, kjer so za večino sveta ostale ZDA: pri distribuciji svoje resnice, pri čemer je Seabra ne vsiljuje, ampak samo predloži.

segunda-feira, 17 de novembro de 2008

segunda-feira, 10 de novembro de 2008

domingo, 2 de novembro de 2008

Entrevista minha no Ancelmo Góis


Fui entrevistado sobre o meu Rio de Janeiro. Clique aqui para acessar.
beijos!

sexta-feira, 31 de outubro de 2008

No time for jetlag

Me in my hotel in Curitiba.

segunda-feira, 27 de outubro de 2008

Let's Not Hate the Americans

Here's the youtube of a nice guy I met in Amsterdam...

sábado, 25 de outubro de 2008

As Long As They're Smaller...

So. On my way to Holland we hit a bird during take off out of Rio de Janeiro. We stopped climbing for a while and later when we reached cruising altitude a flight attendant came on saying we had sucked a bird into one of our 747 engines. She joked and said the engine was OK and the bird well cooked. She said that we could smell it at one point during take off. There was actually a weird odor in the craft upon take off... maybe she was joking... I've heard that the air we breath in aircraft is recycled from weird places...
In April I was in a train in Belgium that hit a car. We dragged the poor soul some 300 meters and he died a crushing and firey death. So it took me 44 years to hit a bird in a plane and a guy in a train. As long as the the the things I hit in the future are smaller than what I'm in I'm OK with it. Maybe it'll take another 44 years until something bigger hits me... Let's hope so.

domingo, 19 de outubro de 2008

Off to Holland Again

So i just got back from Fortaleza where I performed Isadora.Orb. Wonderful performance. Two days before I was in Salvador for two other performances of Isadora. Caught a cold on the road and I had the worst earaches I ever had approaching Rio. As we descended it felt like my ears were going to bleed. Funny thing is I didn't feel this as we were climbing. Just as we descended. If someone can explain that please add comment to this blog. I spend a week in Amsterdam and then go to Curitiba. Tomorrow before I leave I vote. I'm mailing my ballot into the the New York Board of Elections. I'm quite hopeful about Obama becoming President. I think I will go to the States for the inauguration if he does win.

Cafferty on Palin

Maher on Palin

He said what had to be said...

quinta-feira, 9 de outubro de 2008

First Sweetness


This is a still frame from the Town Hall debate. Barack was asked: What don't you know and how will you learn it? He proceeded to say that his wife would have a longer list than he did. Cameras focussed in on her and caught this.

terça-feira, 30 de setembro de 2008

Art for Bush

http://www.americathegiftshop.com

quarta-feira, 17 de setembro de 2008

segunda-feira, 8 de setembro de 2008

Approaching Rio


I was here a few days ago... making landfall over the State of Rio coming in from Floripa. I've been in the air a lot lately. I'll be sharing some nice photos from the sky.

Back in Brussels


Preparing for Empire Love to Love You Baby. Back on my heels.
Imperial kisses, Ricky.

quarta-feira, 3 de setembro de 2008

Outro avião derrapa


Ouvi dizer que querem fazer um memorial no lugar do prédio que foi atingido pelo avião da TAM que saiu da pista e explodiu ano passado. Bueno... EU acho que seria mais inteligente extender a área de escape da pista de Congonhas por cima da Avenida Washington Luiz e da Avenida dos Bandeirantes e do lote em que ficava o prédio. Eu aterriso com frequência em Congonhas... não me importaria nada se não existisse esse aeroporto onde envelheço pelo menos 3 meses de vida cada vez que pouso lá... é MUITO aflitivo aterrisar ali. Fui. Decolei.

Sarah Palin

(whos name we will have hopefully forgotten by next year)

terça-feira, 26 de agosto de 2008

Bummed and Worried

SESC Pompéia was disappointing. I chose performing there over attending a high school reunion. Bad choice. I'm living in the regret zone these days. Not mature, I know. But it's how I feel. Had the SESC advertised our gig, had they not been so rude I'd feel a bit differently. Though my friend Arnaldo Battaglini showed up and so did Suzana Salles whom I had never met and invited. Without her knowing she was the one who inspired me to buy a viola caipira (the 10 string Brazilian country guitar).

So... I just got back my MRI of my lower back. The images look ugly. Vertebrae are touching each other, protusions, weird stains and blotches, lack of symmetry. I'm not happy. Going to the doctor today to find out what's up.

domingo, 24 de agosto de 2008

terça-feira, 19 de agosto de 2008

UFO over Campo Grande, Brazil


Beautiful vehicle I caught on camera over Campo Grande while on tour there with Isadora.Orb.

quarta-feira, 6 de agosto de 2008

On the road again

So everyone... I'm on the road again. I just started a tour with SESC Palco Giratório. We started off in Ceilândia, Distrito Federal, Brasilia and now I'm in Mato Grosso do Sul. Great floors in the hotel.

quinta-feira, 19 de junho de 2008

sábado, 24 de maio de 2008

Wonder Wing


... 747 somewhere between São Paulo and Rio ...

Heathrow's New Terminal 5 by Night


... from the window of our 747 as we taxi by...

Sleeping Beauty


Here's a cute English guy who sat next to me on the flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow. Me and my sneaky camera. Tee-hee-hee.

Back in Brazil


(picture is me talking off in Amsterdam) So... it turns out I wasn't a good blogger in Europe. Now I'm back in Brazil. DasArts was a great experience... and i met lovely artists... Nadia, Petter, Ivo, Steef, Linda, Stephanie, Camilla, Christian, Snejanka (kisses to all). I'll probably be retro-blogging a bit. Talk about what went down there. Today was a particularly beautiful day... but I couldn't get out of the house. Tired of moving about. Still jet-lagged. To recover from jet-lag I believe it takes one day for every half hour. I'm 5 hours jet-lagged... Will take 10 days to recover.

sábado, 23 de fevereiro de 2008

I'm in Holland


So here I am in Holland again. I'm here to co-mentor a class at Das Arts in Amsterdam. Who knows i'll be a better blogger here. Jan was operated and is doing fine. Thanks to all for wishes of good health. Nice to be back. I could do without the winter though. I hope to start working out again and moving the body but this weather is not conducive action and sweat... outside the saunas...

quinta-feira, 29 de novembro de 2007

Life as it should be?

Today a friend emailed me this:

My Next Life

I want to live my next life backwards!

You start out dead and get that out of the way
right off the bat.

Then, you wake up in a nursing home feeling better
every day.

When you are kicked out of the home for being too
healthy, you spend several years enjoying your
retirement and collecting benefit checks.

When you start work, you get a gold watch on your
first day.

You work 40 years or so, getting younger every day
until pretty soon you're too young to work.

So then, you go to high school: play sports, date,
drink, and party.

As you get even younger, you become a kid again.

You go to elementary school, play, and have no
responsibilities.

In a few years, you become a baby and everyone
runs themselves ragged keeping you happy.

You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully
in luxury, spa-like conditions: central heating,
room service on tap.

Until finally... you finish off as an orgasm.

I rest my case.

domingo, 14 de outubro de 2007

A visitor


Today a cute little thing paid a visit.

sexta-feira, 12 de outubro de 2007

Café Piu Piu, São Paulo

Just got back from a 10 day stay in São Paulo. What a great city. I always used to complain about how ugly it was. How could such an interesting people build such a horrible city? But this time around I got São Paulo. It's fascinating, beautiful in it's own way, in it's scale. And my audience is in São Paulo. I look forward to showing my work A LOT there in 2008 and beyond.
I went to a great café/bar called Café Piu Piu in the Bexiga quarter. And I saw a great choir perform there called Juke. Check out http://www.juke.com.br They sing jingles and intros to old TV shows like Hawaii 5-0 and Speed Racer. They are hysterical and charming at the same time.

terça-feira, 2 de outubro de 2007

Peter Greenaway craps on Paulista

Peter Greenaway showed a 50 film called "The Tulse Luper Suitcases" on Avenida Paulista two nights ago. I, along with what seemed to be a large portion of São Paulo's hipsters, crowded the streets to watch. Greenaway began by asking the audience if we agreed with him that cinema was dead. The crowd mumbled a yes showing some resistence to his opinion. He told us that we were about to witness a 50 minutes of a new language of non-linear cinema that would be exciting and entertaining. He sat before a giant touch flat touch screen monitor and dragged, by hand, a series of looping images to the top portion of the screen which appeared on 4 huge projection screens on a building. After 3 minutes I realized what we were getting ourselves into: a 50 minute display of your typical VJ loopings and samplings. It went on and on. No change in texture. This could have been a video display at an MTV after-party. I tried to start a boo-ing but I could tell that everyone was going to applaud just another piece of contemporary video crap of multiple sceens showing non-communicative looping imagery. At the end body-guards escorted him into the Itau building. As he walked by me I just yelled "Looping is not Innovation".

quarta-feira, 19 de setembro de 2007

terça-feira, 11 de setembro de 2007

Another 9/11


Six years on and here we are again. Another 9/11. I still perform Airplanes & Skyscrapers, a performance I premiered in Belgium on the first anniversary of the attacks. This past weekend and last month I performed this piece twice in the State of São Paulo; in Araraquara and São José do Rio Preto. I still haven't performed it in the United States. Americans who have watched the performance don't understand how I haven't shown it in the States yet and I just tell them that I still haven't found the right agent. This piece has been shown in France, Scotland, Holland, Belgium and Brazil.

This year, as my little nine-eleven tribute, I post an illustration I made back in May of 2004. A dragonfly in SoHo observing construction of the new towers at the World Trade Center site off in the distance.

I hope to be back blogging now. I was away for a while because I got tired of my old computer. I just bought a new kick-ass MacBook Pro 17 inch high definition screen. Will be interesting to see how this machine influences my web-presence and art work. kisses to all.

sexta-feira, 13 de julho de 2007

New 7 Wonders of the World

Three hours before the vote closed I decided to cast my vote for:
The Great Wall of China
Angkor, Cambodia
Petra, Jordan
Taj Mahal, India
Eiffel Tower, France
Christ Redeemer, Brazil

The result:
The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan
Christ Redeemer, Brazil
The Roman Colosseum, Italy
Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Taj Mahal, India

quinta-feira, 28 de junho de 2007

Complexo do Alemão

A polícia matou ontem 19 no Complexo do Alemão. A polícia descobriu paiós e esconderijos. E agora? A minha curiosidade é que se simplesmente saem da favela e deixam o tráfico tomar conta de novo. Não parece existir uma tática a longo prazo para a re-estruturação da favela (e favelas). Ora, já que conseguiram entrar, que fiquem. Aproveitem a ocupação para entrar com a Força Nacional (que já está no Rio) para garantir uma paz para que a "abertura urbanística" seja feita... ou seja... implantar uma malha urbana descente... ou seja abrir ruas, avenidas, calçadas e praças. As pessoas que moram no caminho desta abertura seriam removidas para prédios de relocação perto e dentro da favela para depois voltarem para prédios descentes perto de onde moravam. A violência contra o tráfico não pode ser a única manchete nos jornais. A revolução arquitetônica das favelas tem que ser também manchete.
Sempre digo: Metade do problema da favela é arquitetônica e não social. Favela tem que abrir, abrir, abrir... como Georges-Eugène Haussmann fez com Paris no século 19. Focos urbanos ingovernaveis e acessiveis por apenas traficantes não é só um problema de polícia. É uma questão de soberania nacional.

terça-feira, 26 de junho de 2007

Tenho Orkut!

Agora virei brasileiro de verdade. É só me procurar... Ricky Seabra.

Yoga & the Kitty


sábado, 23 de junho de 2007

Vox Nostra Resonet

This is a beautiful women´s choir for you to click on singing medieval music:
go to http://www.amazon.ca/Miracles-Sant-Iago-Ambrosian-Chant/dp/B0000007F1 scroll down a bit and click "listen" on song number 3 (Vox nostra resonet). It´s just a one minute sample but worth it.

quinta-feira, 21 de junho de 2007

Thomas Pasley

Does anyone out there know the whereabouts of Thomas Pasley, actor? I knew him in NYC back in 1993. Please email me with news or contact information at yo@rickyseabra.com

quinta-feira, 14 de junho de 2007

YouTube of the Day: Lejo DJ



This is adorable!

A Pedra do Reino

Um Belo Desastre. Tanta espectativa pra entender bulhufas. A cenografia é linda. Os atores do mais alto nível. os figurinos fantásticos. O roteiro. Uma bosta. Todo mundo com quem conversei disse a mesma coisa no dia seguinte.
- Não entendi nada.
Como é que alguém faz uma obra de arte pra ninguém entender? Esta é a praga da arte contemporânea. Os artistas deste gênero distorcem a forma até o ponto onde a compreensão está a beira de não existir... ou deixa de existir mesmo. Aí pronto. É arte. Wow!
Não assisti ao segundo episódio de a Pedra do Reino. Estava com muito sono e sem forças pra assistir ao jogo do Grêmio. Será que o diretor sossegou com a sua linguagem errática de edição, cortes bruscos, berros e atores babando? Vou tentar assistir hoje.
Isso demonstra que não basta ter grana, cenografia, figurino e atores maravilhosos. O mais importante é roteiro. O Suassuna, coitado, deve ter boiado e muito.

quinta-feira, 31 de maio de 2007

CA Rio CA

Yesterday I almost got mugged on a bus here in Rio. Back from the tour and Rio is already behaving like Rio. Three muggers boarded the bus. One through the rear door and two through the front door. They didn´t pay. The driver was probably threatened but we didn´t notice. One woman took the initiative and started to pull the bell asking to get off the bus. The driver stopped and a bunch of people got off and I followed. The people who got off told me that the muggers were probably going to "hijack" the bus a few blocks down by the beach where it would be easier for them to run away.
I still love this city but there is definitely something wrong with the word Carioca, the term used to describe it´s natives. If you´re born in Rio you are Carioca. Think about it. Carioca is Rio surrounded by caca.

segunda-feira, 28 de maio de 2007

Back in Rio / De volta ao Rio

The Isadora.Orb tour is over and we are back in Rio. Exhausted! Tour was great. Got to see southern Brazil. Feels like a whole other country. It´s not tropical. The south is Brazil´s Alaska. Exotically cold.

Email working

My emai is working again. Only use yo@rickyseabra.com from now on. Thanks. I have this rickyseabra@gmail.com only as a back up.

quarta-feira, 23 de maio de 2007

Email down

My email has been down for the past 4 days. If you´ve tried to email me your emails are probably bouncing back to you. I hope this gets fixed asap.

Porto Alegre

So. I´m in Porto Alegre now. Extreme south of Brazil. Show was difficult last night. My microphone was giving to much feedback in the theater. But we survived and people loved the performance. The theater organized a talk between the artists (andrea and I) and the audience. Everyone stayed to participate. Great fun.
Afterwards we went to dinner with the production and two artists from a group called Companhia do Giro. At one point during the dinner I had to ask Daniella, "Is it my impression or is Porto Alegre really ugly?". She answered, "Don´t worry. It´s ugly." I´m quite shocked actually. The city doesn´t have a postcard. When you think of Porto Alegre you can pinpoint a monument, a famous building, an obelisk, nothing. That´s one thing they have to work on. But the people are kind. Really kind. I hope to come back. We had a great audience that was really into the piece. So Curitiba and Porto Alegre are cities we really have to come back to to do some audience building.

sábado, 19 de maio de 2007

Curitiba

Last night was our last performance of Isadora.Orb at the SESC da Esquina Theater. The Curitiba audience was by far the funnest audience we´ve had. A lot of university students. They really got the performance. I always used to think that it Isadora.Orb was more for a sixties generation audience but this younger generation, born in the early 80´s really enjoyed it. I hope to come back to this city to perform Isadora more. I think we´d have a good word of mouth here.
So... today we visit Oscar Niemeyer´s Eye. More on that later. kisses

quinta-feira, 17 de maio de 2007

YouTube of the Day: Apache

Yes, folks. This is for real.

Me in dressing room


Fabulous Theater


The Calil Haddad Theater of Maringá is the most beautiful theater in which I have performed.

100 kms of corn


Between Ponta Grossa and Maringá, a lonely tree.

Theater Cine Opera Ponta Grossa


Here's a bad picture of the art decó theater of Ponta Grossa in which we performed.