Bruits Marrons

When Calixto Neto heard the music of the Black gay composer, singer, and performer Julius Eastman (New York, 1940–1990) during a rehearsal in 2019, it turned out to be love at first hearing. Eastman left his mark on the downtown New York art scene and American minimalist music, but lost a large portion of his compositions during an eviction from his apartment in Manhattan. Today his oeuvre is being rediscovered and – finally – posthumously recognized. 

With Bruit Marrons, Calixto Neto ventures into a tribute to Julius Eastman. His choreography and investigation begin from Eastman's composition Evil N***er (not censored in the original). With this use of words, Eastman incurred the wrath of Black students, among others. For Eastman – who meticulously justified his use of the word before every concert – the n-word originated from his reflection on racial capitalism, which for him is the heart of the American form. His ideas remain relevant today, when the history of European colonization still shapes contemporary global power relations. 

Bruits Marrons. Brown noise, maroon noise, writes Neto. In the dictionary, we find terms such as disruption, irritation, disagreement under 'noise' – something that breaks through the regular state of things. This also applies to 'marronage': a term that implies rebelling against slavery, or escaping the norm as a way to achieve freedom. ‘Marronage’ as a possible form of resistance through deviation, through the invention of the new. We can also say all this about the life and work of Julius Eastman: a continuous resistance to the norm, a man who was fully gay, fully Black, fully embodied as a musician. Neto gets to work with his legacy – in particular with the ‘organic form’, around which the choreography weaves a sound universe of bodies, piano, silences, noise. Always balancing anger and beauty. Just like Eastman himself.  

Against all silence 
Be the noise  
Living (with) noise  
Dressing up noise  
Assume the noise  
Create noise  
Produce noise  
Insist on the noise  
Stay noise 

— Calixto Neto  

• Calixto Neto is originally from Recife, Brazil, but has lived in France since 2013. He studied theatre at the Federal University of Pernambuco and then dance at the Groupe Experimental de Danse, before taking the ex.e.r.ce master's degree in experimental dance at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier. During his studies he created the solo petites explosions and the duet Pipoca with Bruno Freire. He created his second solo oh!rage during  a residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in 2018. Calixto Neto was a member of Lia Rodrigues' company from 2007 to 2013, and also performed in works by Anne Collod, Mette Ingvartsen, Ève Magot, and Luiz de Abreu. He is currently working on his next piece, Bruits Marrons, for 4 dancers and 2 pianists, which will premiere in October 2025 as part of the Festival d'Automne in Paris. Calixto Neto is an associate artist at Points Communs, Scène Nationale de Cergy-Pontoise / Val d'Oise 2024–2026.