Swimming Against the Current: Clarice Assad’s “Piracema” Makes History with Grupo Corpo

Clarice Assad has become the first woman to compose a solo score for Brazil’s Grupo Corpo, with her work “Piracema” premiering in 2025 as part of the dance company’s 50th anniversary season. The commission represents a significant shift for the company, which has worked with various composers throughout its five-decade history but had never previously commissioned a woman to create a complete score independently.

The title “Piracema” comes from the Tupi-Guarani words for “fish” and “ascent,” referring to the seasonal phenomenon of fish swimming upstream to spawn. Assad’s year-long composition mirrors this natural cycle through three distinct movements: an opening section evoking the natural environment with tribal elements, a second movement featuring symphonic polyphony performed by the New Century Chamber Orchestra from San Francisco, and a final electronic segment representing urban, contemporary life. The score incorporates Assad’s own voice, collaboration with percussionist Keita Ogawa and her father, guitarist Sérgio Assad, along with AI-generated effects.

The ballet’s choreography marks another departure for Grupo Corpo. Rodrigo Pederneiras and Cassi Abranches developed the work through an unconventional process, each independently creating choreography with separate groups of 11 dancers before merging their versions. Abranches, who danced with the company from 2001 to 2013 and has choreographed several works for them, now assumes the position of resident choreographer. The approach created what Pederneiras described as a synthesis that neither choreographer would have achieved alone.

Critical response to “Piracema” has been positive. Reviewers noted the production’s striking visual elements, including a stage covered with 82,000 sardine can lids that shimmer under lighting, and observed how Assad’s rhythmic choices connect Afro-Brazilian instruments with electronic minimalism. The work’s structure moves from contained, organic gestures to broader movements suggesting the fish’s upstream journey, creating what critics characterized as a meditation on transformation—both ecological and artistic.

Assad, who has lived between France and the United States for three decades and whose work is recognized in contemporary classical circles, approached the commission as her first ballet score. “It was my first soundtrack and, right away, with the gigantic Grupo Corpo, of whom I am absolutely a fan,” she noted. “It was a wonderful process that taught me a lot.” She considers the dancers’ physical demands when composing, creating contrasting environments that allow for both exertion and recovery.

The premiere took place in São Paulo in August 2025, followed by sold-out performances in Belo Horizonte and a national tour. Each evening pairs “Piracema” with “Parabelo” (1997), the company’s popular ballet featuring music by Tom Zé and José Miguel Wisnik. The pairing offers audiences a contrast between “Piracema’s” more universal language and “Parabelo’s” focus on northeastern Brazilian traditions.

For Grupo Corpo, maintaining a dance company in Brazil for half a century has required persistence through limited funding and visibility challenges. The metaphor of fish swimming upstream resonates beyond the natural phenomenon—it reflects the company’s own trajectory and the broader situation of performing arts in Brazil. “Piracema” addresses these themes while also exploring ecological concerns about humanity’s relationship with nature, embedding multiple layers of meaning within its choreographic and musical structure.

Assad’s score demonstrates her ability to bridge classical training with Brazilian musical traditions and contemporary technology. The work moves from what one critic described as sounds evoking an untouched natural environment through chamber-style string sections to purely electronic passages, creating what Assad characterizes as a journey from human to digital and back. This approach aligns with her broader artistic practice of working across musical boundaries and, more recently, incorporating artificial intelligence into her compositions.

The production represents a moment of transition for Grupo Corpo, with both the first female composer and the formalization of Abranches’ role as resident choreographer. As the company marks its 50th year, “Piracema” functions as both celebration and renewal, looking back at decades of work while establishing new creative partnerships for whatever comes next.