In Jonathas de Andrade's work (1982, Brazil), performance occupies a key role. His inquiry into the social and political realities of northeastern Brazil has underlined the power of bodies to store and transmit information through their gestures and actions. Only belatedly considered forms of knowledge, nonverbal practices have been historically important in preserving and contesting norms in the Americas.

In conversation with Diana Taylor (1950, MX/US), performance scholar, Jonathas gives us an insight into his creative process, his work with different communities in Brazil and the way their embodied practices have led him to understand better and intervene his present reality.

Diana Taylor is professor of Performance Studies and Spanish at New York University. She is also the founding director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, a leading organization in the promotion of performance research, preservation, and circulation in the Americas for the last twenty years.