‘In 1909 Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha was born in Marco de
Canavezes, Portugal and moved to Rio de Janeiro. In 1939, she went to New York
City in the boat named “Uruguay”, in which Brazil felt offended by her departure. This affected her in a tragic way.
In 1951 she became the most well-paid show-business artist in the USA.
In 1954, she came back to Brazil after 14 years of absence, resulting in a deep nervous break-down. The show that she produced in Casino da Urca (Rio de Janeiro) after being a tremendous success in the USA, was a disaster in her home country. She came back to the North America deeply saddened. There they would pay anything for her to sing. Over time, she got involved with the heavy abuse of alcohol and diverse chemical drugs. This was a result of 24 years of make-up, dressing, and making the stage an extension of her own body. She went to electric shock treatments five times a month, which deeply damaged her brain to the point to where she could not even remember her songs or lyrics.
In 1955, after participating in a TV show, giving another party where she sang and drank heavily, Maria died the next morning in her hotel bedroom from cardiac collapse at the age of 46. She was found dead in the floor with a mirror in her hand.’
(source: Carmen – uma biografia, de Ruy Castro, Editora Palavra, Portugal)

Created & performed by:
Francisca Sazie (Chile)
Ioana Mona Popovici (Romania-Czech Rep.)
Luis Guerra (Portugal)
Rafael Alvarez (Portugal)

Collaborators:
Simon Vincenzi (UK)
Fabian Gandini (Argentina)
Lucy Cash (UK)

Co-organizers:
Panorama Dance Festival – Rio de Janeiro
Artsadmin – London
Alkantara Dance Festival – Lisbon
Theatre Institut – Prague

“CARMEN MIRANDA IS DEAD” is a result of the distinct experiences of
this collective in Rio de Janeiro during the CoLABoratorio project.
It reflects our living experience as foreigners. The search focused on
identity as a process in continuous construction.

10, 11, 12 April 2008 – Fortaleza
16, 17 April ’08– Belo Horizonte
21, 22 April ’08– Rio de Janeiro

photos by Cuia Guimarães