The State Government of Ceara provided very generous and comprehensive support for the program in Fortaleza: A large van was provided and dedicated to the Company throughout its stay; Carla Tauscheckt from the State Government acted as BDC’s official city guide; and hotel accommodations were provided for the entire Company.

Unlike the previous programs in the tour, workshop groups in Fortaleza were organized with one main local partner: BCAD, a non-profit organization that works to assist the most disadvantaged communities in Fortaleza. BCAD hosted 3 workshop groups at two locations, while another local partner closely associated with BCAD, Ballet Lucymeire Aires, hosted two workshop groups at one location. Each workshop venue location presented a structural problem. The floor in the three larger venues was problematic – in one case, it was laid directly on top of concrete; in the other, an old dance mat (Marley) was so thin that it folded and twisted as dancers turned or pivoted. The other two venues had excellent flooring but were too small for the workshop groups. Understanding that this was a result of local limitations, the BDC teaching artists accommodated and worked together to alternate rooms.

Five Dancing to Connect groups held workshops for 4 hours per day for 5 days with approximately 18 students in each group. Participants were low-income disadvantaged youth and young adults. Melanie Brooks, a Senior English Language Fellow with IFCE/IBEU, coordinated all of BDC’s translation needs for the program. Once again, the translators were essential to the success of the program, and Melanie was able to coordinate teams of two to three translators dedicated to each teaching artist.

The Dragão do Mar performance on Wednesday May 16 coalesced around an innovative artistic collaboration which saw Battery Dance Company’s dancers creating choreography in response to poetry read by the American poets, who were also visiting Fortaleza as a part of a separate ECA-funded program. The collaboration with the American poets from the Iowa writing program was the brain-child of BDC’s Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander, Embassy Brazilia’s IRO Carol Brey-Casiano, and Consulate Recife’s PAO Heidi Arola.

While the original plan called for each dancer to be paired with a poet, two of the visiting poets were unable to obtain visas in time, leaving Sean and Robin without partners. Production designer Barry Steele projected translations of the poetry onto the side of a building while the dancers made use of the surrounding architecture around the stage for their performances. In the second part of the performance, BDC performed an excerpt of ‘Perceptual Motion’, a series of three duets that showcased the artistry of the Company. The event was rather sparsely attended compared to BDC’s other performances but the inclusion of print media and television coverage amplified the impact. ‘Bom Dia’ Ceara, the State’s most widely viewed morning show, carried a feature on BDC and the poetry/dance event the next morning. FSN Edvaldo Amorim was a great asset: he was able to secure a private dressing room for the dancers at the location, acted as MC for the program, and at one point requested that nearby businesses turn down their music volume so to not disturb the performance.

Barry Steele presented two technical workshops at the Jose de Alencar theatre attended by approximately 30 theater technicians and designers. Andres, the technical manager on loan from BCAD, provided translation for the workshops and was key to Barry’s negotiation of the production schedule with the manager of the theatre. Andres, an extremely knowledgeable stage technician and excellent translator was of tremendous help to Barry up until 2 days prior to Barry and his technical trainees at the Theatro Jose de Alencar performance, when, without notice, he disappeared. In his place, FSN Edvaldo Amorim took over essential communication between Barry and the local theatre technical crew helping to prepare for and carry out the final performance.

Tickets for the final performance, held at the Art Nouveau Theatro Jose de Alencar, were all claimed within 5 hours. The performance was attended by U.S. Principal Officer Usha Pitts, who gave opening remarks and presented local partner Janne Ruth with flowers at the end of the performance. FSN Edvaldo Amorim acted as MC and managed to secure a speaker’s podium from the Brazilian Army Ministry before the show. The audience responded to the show with thunderous applause and cheers, at one point expressing their approval in the middle of Sean’s group piece, and at other times shushing the workshop students who continuously screamed out their teaching artist’s name as the BDC dancers performed ‘Perceptual Motion’.