Orô de Otelo

(1994)

Orô de Otelo

An ISTA production

Reading Shakespeare's "Othello", the performer, an elegantly dressed black man, gets carried away by the story.

The performer enacts the main characters - Othello, Desdemona, Iago, according to the words which are sung in Verdi's "Otello". The performer changes from one character to another, building dialogues between them, but also reacting to the characters he interprets.

Verdi's opera music is commented on, backed up or counter pointed by the traditional rhythm of the Candomblé drums.

The performance is based exclusively on the codification of the Orixá dances: all gestures, steps and movements originate from the dances of the saints and gods of the Candomblé religion. Orô is a word used to indicate a ceremony.

In the performance the Orixás are different manifestations of the human passions which animate the main episodes of the play.

The dramatic events evoked by Othello's story slowly drive the performer into a xiré. During the xiré in a Candomblé ceremony the drums greet and call the different Orixás so that they can descend and ride the devotee who is dancing.

The performance finishes with an avania, the final dance and salutation rhythm as all the Orixás leave.

Performer: Augusto Omolù

Musician: Cleber Conceição da Paixão

Director: Eugenio Barba

Assistant director: Julia Varley

Music: traditional drum rhythms from Candomblé ceremonies and fragments from a recording of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello".