Porrada

In "Porrada" the dancer Johanna Heusser and martial artist and poet experiment with the natural impulses and movements of a "brawl" that is called "porrada" by the brazilian culture of Jiu-Jitsu. The protagonists explore the potential of play inside this complex cultural tradition and the fundamentals of fight strategies, that are known and undrstood by apes and humans. The two use their body als the playground of dinstance and closeness. Playfully they explore their individual identity and the shared movements. Constantly they search for the limits and boundaries. Inspired by the rituals and clothing of martial art, they renegotiate exactly these cultural attributes by showing the limits of the ritualized movements and redefine these elements.

Through the process several questions appear: Where is the border between playfull brawl and violence? How necessary is the experience of this subtile border? How much childish playing is enclosed in the approach of two humans? Where can I leave space, where do I set distance?