Nice to meet you, I am Renatinho: a dancing biography in cracolândia

Abstract

This paper is the result of a collective production based on a meeting recorded on March 21, 2024, at the Health Institute, between Renato Oliveira Júnior, known as Renatinho, and his interlocutors Monique Borba Cerqueira, Roberta Marcondes Costa, Talita Mattos, and Luca Meola. Renatinho was born in 1991, in the city of Guarujá. He is 32 years old and has lived in Cracolândia for five years. A man with much charisma, exceptional dancing skills, and intense participation in projects and collectives that operate in the territory. He is one of the protagonists of the so-called fluxo (“flow”), which describes the large group of individuals active in Cracolândia. This experience report in the form of an interview tells us part of his life trajectory and shows the importance of bonding in projects with people in vulnerable situations