(2002)
Hekuras: Spirits of the Rainforest, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Anhembi Morumbi University)  (Original title:  A River Runs Deep, São Paulo, Brazil)
Project conceived by Maida Withers, USA, and Tania Fraga, Brazil. Maida’s motivation came from MWDCCo involvement in Brazil for the United Nation’s Earth Summit (Eco ’92) where our international artist’s group was associated with an indigenous tribe from northern Brazil and Maida’s subsequent visits to the Brazil RainForest.  In Brazil, Tania and Maida began the development of the idea of dance and interaction with visual technology related to the RainForest. A multidimensional dance, computer art, new music based on the mythology and power of the Amazon Rainforest.

(2002) Hekuras: Spirits of the Rainforest (originally, A River Runs Deep): created in São Paulo, Brazil during a three-week residency with Brazilian Professional dancers (Wilson Aguiar, Marines Calori Andrea Fraga, Beth Bastos, Suia Ferluto). Tania Fraga, computer artist and scholar, created original computer art based on the Amazon mythology about the Rainforest. Original music was used with the permission of Magda Pucci, Brazilian composer. Hekuras was originally planned to be part of a Brazilian exhibition internationally that was cancelled. So, Hekuras was never completed for that purpose, but was performed at Universidad Anhembi Morumbi in 2002 as a work in progress. This video includes two aspects:

(1)rehearsal that shows the dance with the computer art;

(2) rehearsal without the computer art.

In 2020, Rainforest Awakens, a real-time interactive performance by Maida Withers and Tania Fraga, was built around 8 of the VIRTUAL worlds from Fraga’s Hekuras installation.

Examples of cyberworlds by Tania Fraga, visual artist, technology and art, professor, curator: