Dramaturgie im zeitgenössischen Tanz ist ? positiv gemeint ? ein heißes Eisen. Idealerweise sind Dramaturginnen und Dramaturgen während der Erarbeitung eines Stücks die besten Freunde der Choreografen.
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My
God, how should I explain why I think Brazil will win the World
Cup? There's an easy answer that even non-Brazilians (assuming they're
not Argentinians) will know already. We have the best players in pretty
much every position. We have an excess of talented players; almost
every selection is controversial. This makes us the obvious favourite
in the betting offices and the expert prognoses – other than in
Argentina, of course.
As a result, many seem to doubt our
ambition. Being a favourite can mean feeling overly confident, or even
pity for the opponent. Irreparable national tragedies loom over us, such as at the end of the 1950 World Cup, when we were the clear favourite at home and needed nothing more than a tie. We began the game ahead and
then lost to Uruguay. It should be
said that some Brazilians – not many, but enough – don't believe or
don't want Brazil to become world champion. A foreigner would need a
semester to understand all the nuances of the problem that this poses
for a people whose national pride is most clearly expressed through
football. There are people who don't want Brazil to win in order to
prove the ineptitude of our president. The connection may be hard for
a European to understand, but in Brazil everyone does. Then there are
people who don't like the trainer. In short, there are a whole bunch of
strange connections that turn this question into an incredibly complex
problem. One should not forget the obscure demi-monde of people who
claim not to believe in a victory but who in fact do believe in it but
don't want to admit it in case that brings bad luck.
And
last but not least there are legions of Brazilians who contribute to
the success of our national team with unconventional means. When we
were still listening the World Cup on the radio, for instance, my
father always used to wear the same clothes and drink the same whisky –
the bottle and the ice bucket in exactly the same place each time. When
the national anthem rang out, he stood up straight and every time our
team went on the offensive, he made me flush the toilet. Because once,
in 1958, Brazil had scored a goal in its first game against Austria as
I happened to have been flushing the toilet. After that he believed
that we had made a significant contribution to the victory – not just
in 1958, also in 1962. And so, millions of Brazilians are willing to
give whatever they have and most cherish in order to help win the
trophy. And if we don't get it, it's only because someone didn't fulfil
his duty.
*
Brazilian team profile
Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro is a writer currently living in Rio de Janeiro.
This article forms part of compilation of writings originally published in the Neue Zürchner Zeitung magazine Folio on May 2, 2006.
Translation: nb
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