The Singularity of Dadi’s Doll Theater: A Look at João Redondo Play in Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

This article aims to point out the singularity of the "calungueira" Dadi and highlight the transgressions carried out by this dollmaker in a field marked by the historically masculine genealogy of the Doll Theater tradition in Rio Grande do Norte. At age 76, Maria Ieda da Silva Medeiros – known as Dadi –, builds, dresses, gives life and movement to the dolls. The subversion of this logic in the creation of and playing with dolls and dollmakers translates her uniqueness into provoking laughter in the people presented during the course of the research. For the theoretical framework we used the theoretical and methodological contributions of Social Sciences and Anthropology, references from cultural studies with approaches on Memory and Tradition, of authors such as Halbwachs (1990) and Paul Zumthor (1993, 1997, 2005), among others, providing this work with relevance when dialoguing with several elements and meanings in the production of meanings of the singularity of Master Dadi.