Trávicas: travesti bodies, greek tragedy, and a classic-devouring travecamethodology

Authors

  • Lia Helena Moreira Marcolino State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) image/svg+xml
  • Ayanna Xavier Sem registro de afiliação
  • Allura Haillan Sem registro de afiliação

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-3999.v16i1p87-105

Keywords:

Greek Tragedy, Travecamethodology, Transgender Epistemologies, Mythology, Helen of Troy

Abstract

This article seeks to trace, document, traverse, and elaborate the creative process behind the performance Volúpia II. Three travesti actresses lead the piece, moving through different figures from Greek mythology in order to recount the story of Helen of Troy. The performance places tragic Greek language in tension with the travesti and Latin bodies of the actresses. What possible unfoldings emerge from this encounter? Is a decolonial approach to a language that has become hegemonic possible? Can new meanings be found in myth when it is enunciated through corporealities unthreaded from the dominant strands of history?

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Author Biographies

  • Lia Helena Moreira Marcolino, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)

    Is an actress, playwright, and curator, holding a BA in Performing Arts from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), where she is currently pursuing an MA in Performing Arts (beginning in 2025). Since 2016, she had used the stage name Helena Agalenéa and, in 2025, began signing her work as Lia Helena. She is co-founder of the theater collective RAINHA KONG, awarded the 36th Municipal Theater Funding Program of São Paulo, with which she has toured O Bebê de Tarlatana Rosa since 2016 across several Brazilian cities. She worked as movement director for Feitiço de Soma (2024), supported by the Zé Renato Award (São Paulo), and performed in Plantar Cavalos para Colher Sementes (2018–2019), directed by Ronaldo Serruya, with a season at Sesc Consolação and performances at Teatro de Contêiner, Sesc Ipiranga, and Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. In 2021, she appeared in the film Germino Pétalas no Asfalto, receiving the Best Supporting Actress award at the 45th Guarnicê Film Festival (Brazil); the film has screened in more than twenty countries. She wrote and starred in Eanna – Santuário Travesti (2022), adapted in 2023 with support from FIC Campinas, created the monologue Volúpia (2024), and in 2025 was awarded the PNAB Campinas grant to mount Volúpia II, founding Cháos Coletivo Teatral; the production premiered in January 2026 with six performances. Lia Helena’s research investigates the frictions between myth and contemporaneity, tradition and transgression, developing poetics elaborated through her travesti body.

  • Ayanna Xavier, Sem registro de afiliação

    Is a dancer, makeup artist, costume designer, seamstress, actress, and model. She began her artistic trajectory in the Ballroom scene and currently works in cultural projects and independent productions, moving between dance, fashion, and theater. A member of Cháos Coletivo Teatral, she participated in the short film Eanna: Santuário Travesti and, more recently, in the performance Volúpia II, in which she performed as an actress, dancer, and choreographer.

  • Allura Haillan, Sem registro de afiliação

    Is a transdisciplinary artist, singer, songwriter, and actress working across music, performance, and theater. Based in the countryside of São Paulo state, she develops research that articulates the Ballroom scene with original artistic creation, exploring corporeality, travesti experience, and social critique. She performed in Volúpia II (2026) and is currently developing the album Etérea.

References

BRINKMANN, Vinzenz; KOCH-BRINKMANN, Ulrike; PAPPALARDO, Umberto. Gods in Color: polychromy in the ancient world. Naples: Glyptothek München, 2007.

GRIMAL, Pierre. Dicionário da mitologia grega e romana. 5. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Bertrand Brasil, 2005.

NEGRETE, Serena Claus. O Lab Transcentrado: Corpos-Agulha e seus rastros TRANSversais. 2024. 61 f. Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Licenciatura em Teatro) – Escola de Música e Artes Cênicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, 2024.

SILVA, Isadora Ravena Teixeira da. Por travecametodologias de criação em arte contemporânea. 2022. 129 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Artes) – Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2022.

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Published

2026-08-14

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): TRANSEN[CENA]: Transgeneridades e Artes Cênicas: Corpos em Criação, Saberes em Movimento

Section

Artigos (Articles)

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How to Cite

Marcolino, L. H. M., Xavier, A., & Haillan, A. (2026). Trávicas: travesti bodies, greek tragedy, and a classic-devouring travecamethodology. Revista Aspas, 16(1), 87-105. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-3999.v16i1p87-105