To put dance into evidence and also its producers; to promote information and knowledge on the dance area; to establish and improve a means of promoting the art of dance oriented both to experts and the general public; to attract the interest and conquer new audiences in an area which has often to deal with the blanks found in conventional media.

Both mission and challenge, those are the objectives of Conectedance, a website created to promote dance in the hope of bringing new opportunities to an artistic area with a significant number of productions all over Brazil, despite the restraints with regard to promotional aspects.

In a country as big as a continent, its vital and stimulating to be able to have resource in Brazil to a promotional initiative which can create links among all centers of culture production. There are plenty of blanks to fill in, but also the great potential of having dance in the front line of cultural expressions in this country.

With the aim of joining forces in this promising context, Conectedance comes to light to help the promotion of dance as an artistic expression in the world today. Contemporary issues, our cultural heritage, the Brazilian production in its diversity, the connection with a globalized world are among the focus of its contents, under the perspective of giving access to more information and multiple opinions.

The overture content sketches out our purposes pointing to a whole range of directions. This is just the beginning, and our prospect is that Conectedance will find room to flourish and improve its sections as it will be “fed” with information on the dance community and the public it hopes to conquer. The exchange channel is now open.

To begin with, Conectedance is making available to its visitors a “Who is Who” in Brazilian dance which, although not complete, provides a view of the dance groups and companies, which amount to more than one hundred entries (a bilingual text was included in the hope of making this website a source of information both in Brazil and abroad).

In order to extend connections, there is a section called “Brazilians Abroad”, with news from many Brazilian artists and professionals in the dance area who are now living around the world, working in different places and getting recognition.

Sections with different approaches have as a focus the art of dance and people in the dance area. A video about Céu na Boca, a new piece by the company Quasar, shot exclusively for Conectedance, is another attraction included in this website with the purpose of stimulating such productions and offer information. Note that information to the general public about shows presently running in Brazil and abroad is one of our main purposes. To get that information we have asked all those who work in the dance area to send us news.

In order to cultivate a link with great creative inspiring sources in dance, Conectedance planned back in its early stages an article on Merce Cunningham, the genius who was then completing 90 years old. It was early July and we knew he would hardly give an interview by phone, for he was physically debilitated and on a wheel-chair. So we tried an interview with Robert Swinston, a remarkable dancer and veteran from Merce Cunningham Dance Company, who in the last two decades had been serving as a direct assistant to the master.

Unfortunately, right after the interview Swinston gave to Conectedance, Cunningham passed away (it’s hard to employ this verb when referring to him because he is still present, and will always be, in the world of dance). Recently contacted again, Swinston gave us an emotional account of the days following the disappearance of the master. For Conectedance, talking about Cunningham is like a tribute, which is also extended to Pina Bausch, another great loss we had this year. But taking profit from a vision of the future this great choreographer had (he premonitorily participated in a project of preservation of his work), let’s make a connection with dance continuity and expansion in its full dimension.

Important to note that Conectedance comes to light thanks to PROAC (Programa de Ação Cultural do Estado de São Paulo) and to the sensibility of Josimara Ribeiro de Mendonça Camargo. At the head of the Instituto Oswaldo Ribeiro de Mendonça and the project Usina da Dança, of the Grupo Colorado, Josy makes a difference for not hesitating in turning art into a tool for social and cultural inclusion.

* Ana Francisca Ponzio is a journalist, reviewer, curator and organizer  of events in the dance area. Creator of Conectedance, she is director and publisher of this website.