The individual projects which compose this thematic project may be considered as the creative echoes coming from the dialogue between Schechner and Turner. Given the manner in which they bring together the different threads of drama, aesthetics and ritual, they are conceived in a braid-like (Schechnerian) fashion. The thematic project itself is seen in these terms, as a proposal which emerges from these three threads, or lines of investigation. These, in turn, are seen as different perspectives for the analysis of performance phenomena.

The individual projects certainly reveal particular strategies in their approaches to their subjects of inquiry. Choices are made regarding ways of bringing together different lines of investigation and theoretical perspectives. Empirical domains are defined and categories are selected in respect to specific questions set forth by the projects. What calls attention is the particular braid which each project develops in its discussion of performance.

These choices say something about the way in which performance studies have emerged over the years. A movement “from ritual to theater” (“and back”), with ongoing discussions about social drama, here finds expression. Perspectives dealing with ritual aspects of performance possibly find greater visibility, as a whole, in the projects presented. The notion of social drama also appears with emphasis, indicating the importance of this theoretical perspective in the configuration of the field. Questions regarding aesthetic performance, which inspire both classical and recent studies, point to some of the most interesting horizons of contemporary discussion.

Hopes are that the interdisciplinary debate which is here proposed may contribute do the formation of a field of research. The anthropology of performance may certainly be seen to be relevant to the study of the various forms of symbolic action in Brazil. At the same time, these forms may be just as relevant to rethinking questions of the anthropology of performance.