In this year of 2021, a year still marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been, and still will be, many call-ups for the fight against Covid-19 and the search for its cure. However, there is also a search for a cure and a fight against Brazil’s social, cultural, mediatic, economic and political woes, which existed in Brazil even before this viral tragedy that caught us off guard and made the distance between us, as also our difficulties, inequality and lack of love, even more evident. In these two years of struggle, professional people from different areas have dedicated themselves with energy, working towards the preservation of life. Among these professionals, apart from highlighting the key role carried out by health professionals of all areas, it is also important to highlight the importance of arts and of artists, in search for healthy breathing and oxygenation for the body, the mind, and the soul.

Thus, called up to the struggle and also wanting to make a contribution with the different possibilities of bringing health, I come here and recommend four different possibilities of access to the performing arts and its provocations, thoughts, and problematizations.

For those wishing to get to know a bit more about the diversity of our actions when performing, we advise looking at the episodes of the documentary series Cena Inquieta (Restless Scene) of SESC TV. I recommend the instalment where the groups O Poste Soluções Luminosas, *The Lamp-Post Lighting Solutions) from Recife and Teatro Negro e Atitude (Black Theatre and Attitude) of  Belo Horizonte show a powerful fragment of the Black scene in the state of Pernambuco and Minas Gerais respectively; and also the episode which shows the spiralled and Afrographed movement of the Segunda Preta (Second Black) group from Belo Horizonte (BH), with the participation of Danielle Anatólio, Michelle Sá, Adyr Assumpção and Preto Amparo.

According to the Afrocentred trail and crossroads, I also recommend the webdoc Mirada (Glance) about the ironic problematising and even controversial PRETO (BLACK), as well as one of the episodes of the Dramaturgias (Dramaturgies) podcast, which interviews the restless playwright Jô Bilac, recording a bit of his thought, poesy and other issues on a very powerful audio. Last but not least, I recommend the programme Teatro e Circunstância (Theatre and Circumstance) which addresses the Teatro da Negritude (Blackness Theatre) movement, with powerful and revealing interviews of Negro theatre groups, including such names as Bando de Teatro Olodum (Olodum Theatre Band, from the State of Bahia), Teatro Negro e Atitude (Black Theatre and Attitude, from Minas Gerais), the Grupo Caixa Preta (Black Box Group, from Rio Grande do Sul) and Grupo Cabeça Feita (Decided Group, from the Federal District).

Axé for all!!!

Onisajé 



Yakekerê do Ilê Axé Oyá L´adê Inan – a religious figure of the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé, also an actress and actor trainer, being a researcher into Candomblé and into the theatre and religiosity of this African religion in Brazil. She is a doctoral student in the Performing Arts at PPGAC/UFBA.