Coral Cariúnas: identidade, significado e performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the experiences lived by the Cariúnas Choir in its choral singers identities. This Choir belongs to the social project Cariúnas, implanted by Sociedade Artística Mirim of Belo Horizonte, who works with activities of music and dancing. This qualitative study described and analyzed the understanding of five adolescents of the Cariúnas Choir in relation to three categories: identity, meaning and performance. Greens (1996) theory of musical meaning: inherent and delineated; Hargreaves, Miell and Macdonalds (2002) theories of identities; and also, Turner (1982), Schechner (1988) and Hikijis (2005) theories of performance as social transformation, provided the theoretical framework for analysis and interpretation of the research data. Data collection methods included observations, questionnaires, personal diaries of the participants about four rehearsals, emi-structured interviews with a sample of five adolescents of the Choir and documental analysis. Findings suggested that performance, public presentation and the audiences reaction are related to the participants selfesteem and identities. The participants valorized themselves by the reception of attention, the prominence and the applauses. In the same way, the meanings acquired by the Cariúnas Choirs repertory influenced the process of construction of their identities.