THE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY: DANCE AS PROOF OF IDENTITY AND CULTURAL AFFIRMATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF BALBINO

Abstract

The Dance of Coco is a cultural manifestation of popular african indigenous origins that involves dance, music and poetry, whose practice is found in several locations in Northeast Brazil. This article examines the meaning of dance as Coco element of cultural identification in the Community Balbino, located in Cascavel. The principal methodology used in this research was oral history because it allowed us to create a source: the interview. The interviews allowed the reconstruction of the history of the community and an understanding of how individuals give meaning and create identities. The Coco de Balbino has different meanings according to the historical moments experienced by the Community. Research shows that the inhabitants of Balbino until the 1980s experienced the Coco as a joke, fun. The Community has undergone a process of speculation in the period 1984-1997, culminating in a political and social organization of residents, propelling movements Community, generating a redefinition of dance that came to be practiced as a presentation and as an element of identification and cultural affirmation. In this perspective, we believe that the Community of Balbino and its residents can be understood from  the dance Coco and their meanings.