Interview with Zeca Ligiéro, conducted by Diana Taylor, founding director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. This interview is a part of a series curated by the Hemispheric Institute, articulated around the question 'What is Performance Studies?' The series aims to provide a multifaceted approach to the often difficult task of defining the coordinates of both a field of academic study as well as a lens through which to assess and document cultural practice and embodied behavior. The contingent definitions documented in this series are based on the groundbreaking experiences and the scholarly endeavors of renowned figures in contemporary performance studies and practice.

Zeca Ligiéro has a bachelor degree from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (1972), MA in Performance Studies, New York University (1988), Ph.D. in Performance Studies - New York University (1997. He is currently Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro State and the curator of Augusto Boal Archive. He coordinates since 1998 the Center for the Study of Afro-Amerindian Performances-NEPAA. He directed Street people with Marise Nogueira, Mexico, 2001 and in Peru in 2002; Desabrigo by Antonio Fraga, Rio and BH, 2004; The clown black: the story of Benjamin de Oliveira, Brazil and Colombia, 2008, Noticias de las cosas pasadas Universidad Distrital de Bogotá, 2009. He set the video Installation and exhibition Zé Pelintra's interactive altar in Maine, Germany, in 2002 and, in Nova York, USA, 2003. He has published Afro-Amerindian Performance, 2007; Carmen Miranda: An Afro-Brazilian performance (Carmen Miranda: uma Afro-Brazilian performance, 2006); Malandro Divine: The Life and Legend of Ze Pelintra (Malandro divino: a vida e a lenda de Ze Pelintra, 2004); Theater from the Community, 2003; Introduction to Umbanda with Dandara Rodrigues, 2000; Umbanda Pace, Freedom and Cura (Umbanda: Peace, Liberdade e Cura) with Dandara Rodrigues, 1998; Introduction to Candomblé, 1995, Divine Inspiration from Benin to Bahia, University of New Mexico Press, Phyllis Galembo, editor, 1993.