'On the paradoxical nature of one's roots and their cultural heritage'

Première: 20 November 2025

ODEON Zwolle

Tour: November 2025 - January 2026

Concept, choreography and performance: Samir Calixto

RAIZ is a co-production of Matter Affects (NL), Zwolse Theaters (NL), Schouwburg De Lawei (NL) and Scenario Pubblico (IT)

RAIZ

Samir Calixto's work is often associated with incorporating iconic works from the Western cultural tradition in his contemporary dance pieces. As an artist born and raised artist, many have found it curious that this background is often not so clearly visible in his creations.

However, Calixto sees it differently: it is thanks to his cultural heritage that his works are filled with a vibration and sense of urgency that often serve as a friction point for the subjects under investigation. It is by reflecting on this friction that the choreographer RAIZ ('root' in Portuguese) presents, a solo performance in which he travels the path from his origins to its intersection with what is considered European high culture - but nevertheless is the reflection and digestion of Europe's own heritage.

As a small child, Calixto grew up participating in Afro-rituals in his native Brazil, sessions in which music and movement were used as a connection to ancestral elements that could reconnect people with their deepest origins - something that was far removed from today's hedonism. It was in these 'seances' that many of his roots were laid, and also when the seeds were sown for his deep relationship with dance.

It was also then that a wealth of rhythms and sounds made their appearance and contributed to the formation of his artistic identity. Later in his path, the choreographer saw his path crossed by many other influences, but none had as much impact in his life as the connection he found he found with Western classical music - thanks to his studies as a classical singer, in which he came into contact with works that spoke directly to the universality of human experience.

It is precisely in this paradox that RAIZ will focus: on how a Brazilian artist creates in a context radically different from his original one, incorporating his own roots into what are seemingly very opposite realities. In this process the choreographer finds a crossroads where artistic expression is nothing but an experience that reveals the intricacies of human nature within cultural differences. It is by understanding his own heritage and myths, and relating them to others - whether through candomblé (a folk religion practiced in South America - especially Brazil - and based on traditional African religious practices, modified by elements of Roman Catholicism and spiritualism). or Schubert - that Calixto once again searches for the universality of our human experience, as has been the case throughout his oeuvre has been the case.

In this context, music again plays a strong role, as in these rituals percussion is often the driving force behind the movements performed, as a wide range of different rhythms is selected for different manifestations of natural phenomena.

In RAIZ Calixto himself will embody this physical journey in which our roots are a starting point for understanding what makes us what we are and, contrary to what some may think, can work as a unifying force towards others rather than a factor of division.

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE