Pegge Vissicaro atua como Diretora Executiva da Cross-Cultural Dance Resources, Diretora Artística da TerraDance® e Professora Associada do Honors College na Northern Arizona University. Ela também é Professora Emérita de Dança na Arizona State University, onde ocupou vários cargos administrativos no Departamento de Dança, implementou currículos inovadores e foi pioneira no ensino de dança online. A Dra. Vissicaro lecionou em Portugal como Fulbright Scholar de 1996 a 1997 e como Fulbright Specialist em 2008 e 2012. Sua produção acadêmica inclui o texto Studying Dance Cultures, o livro coeditado Performing Utopia e diversos artigos com foco em sua pesquisa no Brasil, na China e no trabalho com refugiados africanos. Ela possui Bacharelado em Belas Artes em performance e coreografia em dança pela University of Michigan (1978), Mestrado em Belas Artes em performance e coreografia em dança pela University of North Carolina-Greensboro (1981), Doutorado em Filosofia com foco em currículo e instrução interdisciplinar pela Arizona State University (2003) e Mestrado em antropologia sociocultural pela Northern Arizona University (2023).
A era do Antropoceno marca uma aceleração da devastação ambiental, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento urbano-industrial, pela globalização e pela sobrepopulação, afetando a saúde, o bem-estar e a sobrevivência de todas as espécies na Terra. O antropocentrismo, que enfatiza o domínio humano sobre o mundo natural, alimenta esta crise existencial. Conflitos, exclusão e instabilidade, agravados pela crescente incerteza económico-política global, aprofundam os sentimentos de precariedade. Artistas, cientistas e educadores reconhecem que enfrentar estes tempos complexos exige uma mudança de paradigma, orientada para abordagens mais centradas na natureza, capazes de sustentar a complexa e interligada teia da vida. A este desafio respondem bailarinos e bailarinas que compreendem a primazia do movimento como meio de animar as relações entre humanos e não-humanos, com potencial para perturbar o discurso antropocêntrico e transformar positivamente o planeta. Esta afirmação, que inspirou uma investigação interdisciplinar iniciada em 2020, serve de ponto de partida para este artigo, centrado no estudo da cultura da dança a partir de uma perspetiva ecossistémica, que pressupõe uma interação mútua entre as pessoas e o meio ambiente. Conceitos indígenas de relacionalidade, que valorizam a interconexão e a interdependência, oferecem perspetivas críticas sobre ecossistemas sustentáveis, cada vez mais diversos e imprevisíveis. A discussão propõe-se explorar de que forma o movimento — elemento intrínseco à cultura da dança — facilita uma reciprocidade relacional, essencial à adaptação e sobrevivência em contextos dinâmicos. Sistemas de conhecimento cultural da dança que promovem relações ecológicas contribuem para o bem-estar, ao praticar encontros com a diferença e ao desenvolver competências para lidar com a mudança. Esta abordagem aponta para uma teoria aplicada da antropologia da dança — ou do estudo da cultura da dança — que visa restaurar e reabilitar a função do sistema, permitindo-lhe crescer, desenvolver resiliência e prosperar no futuro.
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