Altinha is the quintessential Rio de Janeiro sport, born in the 1960s and played on the edge of the beach, preferably by the water, where the hot sand won't burn your feet. The aim is to keep the ball in the air without it touching the ground and without the players using their hands. The spirit of cooperation between the players is striking, as they don't compete with each other but help each other because they all have the same goal: not letting the ball fall. 

In the photographs I took, I observed a pattern in the players' movements within a certain space and time, which gives rhythm to these scenes. Not only do they keep the ball in the air, but they do it in a fascinating way. I then decided to mix and superimpose these photographs with prints on tracing paper, in cut-outs that isolate the bodies and movements, and then reconcile all the images. Diluting the images allowed them to be absorbed by the transparency of the paper and the superimpositions, and that's how I achieved a narrative, a choreography, as if in the beat of a drum, in a movement that is multiplied within a single painting. They now seem to be hitting the ball to the sound of a berimbau or the cadence of a ladainha.

This multiplication of possibilities has prompted me to undertake some movement studies, which I have broken down into sequences inspired by the work of Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey. In addition to rhythm, my objective is to gain insight into the nature of movement, to ascertain the limits of the human body in terms of strength, and to do so with a focus on movement, dance and gesture. Lift, cut, defend, kick, jump. Cut, spin, head. Dodge, kick, scissor. 

Both Altinha and Capoeira are inviting, inclusive, democratic activities that require flexibility, adaptation, and harmony. These activities facilitate the formation of relationships between the athletes involved. By situating Altinha in closer alignment with Capoeira, my work challenges the rigidity of the conventional figure of the sportsman and demonstrates the dance that occurs in the affective chain between the players and in the relationship between them and the beach.