"Virgens do beco é show": performances de uma quadrilha humorística em Santarém, PA

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the expressions and the senses of laughter in the performances of humorous “quadrilhas" in Santarém, Pará. As empirical units of analysis, were presented presentations by the group The Virgins form theBeco, which stand out, in that city, for the mobilization of laughable elements, as well as dance and theater. The focus of the work is on the comic aspects of the performances, which permeate the plots, choreography and costumes, among other elements. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, the research aligns with performance anthropology studies in that it assumes the group’s presentations as ritualized sets of situations and emphasizes face-to-face interactions in the presentations observed according to the basic principles of ethnography. In addition, visual documentation produced in presentations is used as an important resource in this research. Finally, we seek to understand how the laughable contents in the group are explored and to interpret the comic meanings captured from their performance.