Rehearsal

Rehearsal comes before the public performance, focusing on how participants prepare to take part. In Nego Fugido, a tradition from Acupe, a district of Santo Amaro, Bahia, learning to perform means becoming familiar with the characters, mastering the conventions of the performance, and understanding how the different roles and relationships shape the event. This preparation helps sustain a collective tradition passed down through generations.

Rehearsing involves repetition, adjustment, and learning when to step in. As participants become familiar with the sequence, they come to understand their roles and how to work with one another. Learning goes beyond mastering movements or lines. It also means understanding how the performance is organized and building the confidence to take part in front of an audience.

The photograph focuses on this stage of preparation, before the performance reaches its full intensity. Rehearsal serves a purpose of its own: it equips participants to perform while leaving room to respond to whatever unfolds during the enactment. Repetition establishes a shared framework without dictating every moment in advance.

The transition to “The Shout” marks a change in the nature of this experience. What has been developed through repetition finds its voice, as sound becomes essential to communication among the participants. The preparation carries into the shout, which breaks the silence and raises the intensity of the performance.

Between rehearsal and the shout, learning moves beyond preparation and becomes part of the performance itself. The sequence brings together two aspects of the same practice: learning the conventions required to participate and putting them into action before others. The photograph of the rehearsal takes on meaning through this transition while remaining distinct from the moment that follows.