Research in Brasil

CAETANA
CAETANA is site-specific performance research on the landscape and history of Barra do Sahy, a beach town located along the coast in the São Paulo region of Brasil.

In the frame of the DREAM ACTING Residency, Pilot Guiamum 2025, I developed performative methods to observe and research the relationship between the human and the non-human within the landscape and delve into local narratives, traditions and folklore.

Together with poet and performer Ciça Barros, we developed the character of “Caetana”, a wild mystic who holds a supernatural connection to nature, songs, words and dreams. The name “Caetana” pays tribute to an indigenous woman who was once a local in Barra do Sahy.

​By means of audio field recordings, transcripts of interviews with locals and conversations with my performer, Ciça Barros and the other invited artists, I gathered material for an interdisciplinary performance that combines sound art, spoken word and dance.​

Performance

AS PALAVRAS DELA, O SONHO DELE
The performance “As Palavras Dela, O Sonho Dele” brings the dreams and voices of the local residents of Barra do Sahy in dialogue with Western pop idol Madonna. In the radical deconstruction of the 1989 hit “Like A Prayer”, performer Ciça Barros directed by Beatrix Joyce is a translator of words and interpreter of queer dreams, channeling the mystic sensuality of Barra do Sahy’s natural landscape.

CREDITS
Concept, direction & sound: Beatrix Joyce
Performance: Ciça Barros
Props: Theo Argueyrolles
Prop pullers: Theo Argueyrolles, Charlotte Watson
Dramaturgical advice: Michela Filzi, Charlotte Watson, Theo Argueyrolles
Voices: Donna Tinoca, Antônio Obras, Rosiane, Eliane Brum, Cris
 
Sound:
Field recordings from Barra do Sahy and Rio de Janeiro by Beatrix Joyce and Charlotte Watson, and Aporee Radio
 
Songs:
Dream Baby - Roy Orbison (1962)
Babylon - Gilberto Gil (1971)
Dream A Little Dream Of Me - The Mamas and Papas (1968)
 
STALKER soundtrack (1979) - Eduard Artemyev
Wolf - Pauline Oliveros (1998)
 
Like A Prayer by Madonna - London City Voices Choir (2017)

​Presented at DREAM ACTING - Residency Exhibition, Pilot Guiamum, 22.03.2025, Cultural Centre "Escambau", Boiçucanga, Brasil

Research landscape/sound