Co-funded by the
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
Rodrigo Batista is a Brazilian theatre maker and educator based in Amsterdam. In the context of the DAS Theatre Master Programme, he developed a collection of pieces aiming at bringing insurrection into the performance space. Previous to his work in Europe, he worked for over 10 years with his São Paulo-based group “[pH2]: estado de teatro”. They presented theatrical investigations in dialogue with philosophy, cinema and dance, which received several grants and prizes. Rodrigo presented works in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Moreover, he worked as a theatre educator in several cultural and social programmes in São Paulo.
Rodrigo Batista - Photo by Thomas Lenden (c) - DAS Theatre“My art is here as a reminder that Europe has the responsibility to give territory back. Bolsonaro and his friends should disappear. The migrant anger should not be suppressed – ANGER is POWER. If we don’t have the same rights, turn SOLIDARITY UPSIDE DOWN.”Rodrigo Batista
At the core of his recent works is the importance of performing political statements, direct and explicit messages addressed to the current world politics, focusing on the rise of the Alt-right Neo Fascism and the never ending European colonialism (and its obvious relationship). Latest, he developed a collection of pieces, in the frame of the Master Program of DAS Theatre, that have the ambition of bringing insurrection-revolt-vandalization within the performance space. The most relevant work is the double-sided performance “The Furious Rodrigo Batista (Side A)” and “The B-Side”. “Side A” is a cheap poverty-porn theatre play and “The B-side” is a nasty colonial performance. Both of them has the aim of vandalize the theatrical language.
Previous to his development within the European field, he worked for over 10 years with the group “[pH2]: estado de teatro”; in São Paulo. They presented theatrical investigations in dialogue with philosophy, cinema and dance that were awarded with several funds and prizes.
Rodrigo presented works in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
He also worked in several cultural and social programs in São Paulo as a theatre educator, the most notable was in Capão Redondo neighborhood which ended up in a huge art educators’s strike in response to the financial cuts and racists/misogynistic dismissal imposed by the Institution Poiesis and the Government.
Rodrigo wants to expand explicitness into an aesthetic tool that flows from the use of straightforward language and propaganda, the practice of decolonization as a process of violence and the investigation of a gore and pornographic visuality, all within an intense body research made from impulses of iconoclasm, indigestion, mutilation, blood and sex.