Special Programs

Ecospheric Performance in Brazil

Program Overview

Drawing inspiration from the Climate Lens collective’s call for an “ecospheric ideology and art practice [that] seeks to partner with the more-than-human world, and to do so in the full acknowledgment that our species has changed the planet in profound ways,” this course provides undergraduate and graduate students with a three-week performance-making laboratory led by contemporary Latin American artists working at the intersection of art, ecology, and performance. 

Waterfall in Iguaçu National Park, Brazil

Core Curriculum

Students will be enrolled in the following 4-unit course.

Please Note: Students studying abroad on a Tisch track are not eligible to pursue an internship (except for Television Writing in London and Theatre in Ghana). Tisch programs do not provide work visas.

Ecospheric Performance

IPERF-GT 2608/ ITHEA-UT 608 | 4 units | Instructor: Sebastián Calderón

In the face of the challenges posed by the Anthropocene, this course offers students a theoretical and practical introduction to performance-making from a non-anthropocentric multispecies perspective. The course takes place in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil—located at the tri-national border shared with Argentina and Paraguay—and its surrounding forests, including Iguaçu National Park. In addition to its rich biodiversity, the park's main attraction is the impressive waterfall system of the Iguaçu River, renowned for its visual and acoustic power, which spans nearly three kilometers with vertical drops of up to 80 meters. The clouds of spray produced by the waterfall are conducive to the growth of lush vegetation in the area. The first week of the course will involve reading seminars exploring the most urgent issues surrounding ecology, politics, and performance from a Latin American perspective, as well as visits to relevant local sites such as the Itaipu Dam (third-largest hydroelectric dam in the world), the Bird Park sanctuary, and the Iguaçu Falls. The last two weeks will be devoted to guest artist workshops focused on techniques and methods for creating devised work outdoors in forests, riverbeds, and urban sites. The course will conclude with a presentation by students of their site-specific performance projects. 

Course objectives:

1.    Explore the relation of art and performance to more-than-human life, including topics such as the Anthropocene/Plantationocene, buen vivir (“good living”), neoextractivism, metabolic rift, biocentrism, sentipensar (“feel-think”), Amazonian philosophy, and cosmopolitics.

2.    Learn new techniques and methods for devising performance work that take as core collaborators and co-performers: non-human animals, plants, climates, and territories.

3.    Develop artistic and research relations across the Americas on these issues so as to strengthen the possibility of future cross-cultural and international collaborations.  

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Photo by Poéticas do ENTRE

Group improvisation by students at the Iguaçu National Park.

Photo by Poéticas do ENTRE

Class discussion at the Iguaçu National Park headquarters.

Photo by Poéticas do ENTRE

Image from final site-specific student performances in Iguaçu National Park.

Photo by Poéticas do ENTRE

Image from final site-specific student performances in Iguaçu National Park.

Photo by Poéticas do ENTRE

Movement improvisation by students at the Iguaçu National Park headquarters.

Program Dates

Summer 2027

Student Arrival: July 4, 2027
Student Departure: July 24, 2027

Arrival and departure dates are subject to change.

Admissions

The summer 2027 application is open. The application deadline is February 15, 2027.

Prerequisites:

The course is open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Guest artist workshops will be taught in Spanish and/or Portuguese, therefore conversational proficiency in one of these languages is required.

Please read the following application requirements before starting your application.

Students who are currently on a student visa and considering participating in a study abroad program, should be in contact with the Office of Global Services. Students who have a question about applying for a visa to this location, should be in contact with the Office of Global Services regarding their visa needs and the process.

Note: Students should wait to receive their admissions notification prior to purchasing airline tickets. Students accepted to the program should purchase refundable airline tickets and/or travel insurance in the event the program is canceled or program dates are changed.

Expenses

Summer 2027 

  • Undergraduate summer 2027 tuition: $8,368
Summer 2027 fees are TBA.
 
  • Program Fee: TBA
  • GeoBlue Global Health Insurance: TBA
  • Students are responsible for arranging their own transportation to/from the program.
  • Housing: TBA

Fees are subject to be changed and/or added.

For the length of the program, students will be enrolled in GeoBlue Health Insurance. Students traveling beyond the dates of the program are encouraged to enroll themselves in GeoBlue Health Insurance. 

Visit the NYU Office of the Bursar for additional information on tuition and fees.

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Scholarship and Financial Aid

There are opportunities for financial assistance to study abroad.

Please review the Scholarships and Financial Aid for Study Abroad page for more information.

Housing

Housing information is TBA.