Interpreters of difference: “Universal” communication and the national body of Brazilian artists in the USA

Abstract

Centered on examining the trajectories of Brazilian actors who migrated to the United States with the purpose of studying and working in that country, this article aims to discuss the rhetoric of difference mobilized by subjects to describe states, markets and their own experiences. The proposal is aligned with anthropological research focused on investigating the politics of difference in transnational contexts. During 2015 and 2016, I conducted interviews with eleven Brazilian artists who lived in the USA. These individuals argued that there was a “universal” communication conferred by “art” and relied on the transcendence of their acting techniques - they believed they were capable of playing any character in the new country. However, as they tried to obtain roles, they encountered restrictions precisely because they were foreigners: their accent, physical appearance and the visa-related limitations prevented them a regular professional practice. The main question is: how these subjects formulated about difference?

Os usos do perfil – formas de ensino e práticas da diferença em escolas de teatro musical

“…Em trabalhos anteriores pude explorar os repertórios teatrais em trânsito entre os países, analisando os objetivos comerciais de produtores brasileiros e estadunidenses, as peças encenadas em cada cidade, as técnicas de interpretação adotadas nos dois contextos e também a migração de artistas brasileiros para os Estados Unidos com o objetivo de trabalharem no mercado de entretenimento (Machado 2018(Machado , 2020a. Neste artigo, como já foi mencionado, meu foco de análise recai numa disciplina de nome similar em ambos os contextos pesquisados: Audição, no caso do Brasil, e Audition technique, nos Estados Unidos.…”