«Não faço isto para os homens, mas para Deus / I do not do this for men, but for God.».
Arthur Bispo do Rosário
The show that opened the eightieth edition of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the United States has also landed in Europe. During their New York debut, they managed to have the fiercest pen of the N.Y. Times, Jennifer Dunning, write that “Mesquita and his dance company Mimulus should be bottled and sold as an elixir.” Much anticipation surrounds Por Um Fio: it pays homage to Arthur Bispo do Rosário (1909-1989), a legend in the world of Brazilian art and beyond, known for his complex installations characterized by the unconventional use of embroidery. Jomar Mesquita and the Mimulus Company evoke, right from the title, the material dear to the artist: “The tangles of embroidery are metaphors for art and madness,” says the choreographer. Thus, to the remixed notes of romantic Chopin and the greatest names in carioca music from Caetano Veloso to Zeca Baleiro, a captivating blend of Latin American dances and contemporary dance arrives on the stage of the Teatro Sociale, framed by ingenious visual designs of woven and embroidered threads for the set and incandescent threads for the lighting. The choreography aims to weave embroideries through the bodies of the dancers, with the support of costumes created “in the manner of Arthur Bispo do Rosário,” recycling fabric scraps. From Belo Horizonte, where the company is based, Mesquita's unmistakable style and his Mimulus is a blend of genres, predominantly recreated for partner dancing. The seductive nature of the choreographic writing has garnered great success from both the public and critics on every occasion.
Jomar Mesquita is a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the Mimulus Company, which he founded in 1992. For over twenty years, he has dedicated himself to the research and teaching of Latin American dance genres: trained in the different rhythms and dance styles in his home country as well as in the schools of the countries he has visited (Cuba, Argentina, Costa Rica, France, England, Spain, and the United States), he has not neglected classical dance basics and has deepened his skills in theater techniques, circus arts, and zapateado. His artistic versatility is the same that characterizes Mimulus, one of the rare professional Latin American dance companies: their creations are indeed marked by a dynamic and lively style that goes well beyond the formal limits of each individual dance. He thus adds a significant degree of theatricality to classical and contemporary techniques, making every dancer a “type,” a character in every sense. During numerous international tours in America and Europe, the company always receives a warm public response; it is very popular in France, having been a guest at the Lyon Dance Biennale, and has received critical acclaim, as in the case of the production Dolores, inspired by the films of Pedro Almodóvar.
