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Place - The contrasting landscapes of a busy New York Winter and an explosive Rio de Janeiro Summer shape the scenario against which the cultural and psychological conflicts among the characters take place.

Plot - Tamandua is the bilingual, multi-cultural story of a love triangle between Carol, a bi-polar American journalist heading to Brazil, Aruanan, a Brazilian man in search of the mystic purpose of his life, and his childhood friend Pedro, a Brazilian drug dealer who lived in New York and is attached to material values, money and the good life. Julia, the mother of Aruanan’s first child also enters the picture as one who comments the development of the plot and foresees the tragedy.

Once Carol gets to Rio, she immerses herself in the local nightlife. At first she meets Pedro, and then Aruanan, with whom she becomes romantically involved. They then lead a life with the inevitable conflicts of a couple from different backgrounds. Both idealize and misunderstand each other. Aruanan returns to his routine of small jobs, English classes and the beach. Carol meets a Professor-Xaman and researches mythical heritage, Brazilian culture and the Cannibalistic Art movement.

Pedro takes Carol out one evening, with a plan to use her as a cover up for a major drug deal. The evening intensifies and they become lovers. It is not long before Aruanan hears the news. He confronts Pedro, ultimately killing him.

Aruanan doesn’t want to kill his friend, yet he has no control over his strength. The police chase Aruanan, assuming that the death is drug-related. He is hung, tortured and killed. His body is dumped in a landfill.

Carol is in shock with the sequence of events that have escaped her control. She discovers that she is pregnant and creates an unlikely bond with Julia. As she plays with Julia’s daughter, Sofia, she begins to understand the changes she has undergone, an inner perception of the circles of life.

In the outside world, a place contaminated by urban violence, there is no time to cry over losses in the battle. During the transformation ritual, the spirits of the dead rise above the scene. The city cannot stop to mourn, the Laundry Women sing their song to the waters that wash away the blood from the previous night.

Key Themes - In 1922, Brazilian modernists defined their art as anthropophagic, or cannibalistic. Since then, the concept has influenced the production of a number of creative artists in the country. This opera is, in itself, an example and reference to the digestion of western values by developing countries and the artists that come out of such context. Information is digested and transformed into something synergistic.

Conflicts between natives and foreigners in Rio, as well as the dealing of art and drugs, set up a panel of references to urban violence in the modern world. Parallel to the story line are underlying tribal and mystical themes, dealing with aspects of colonization, globalization, the collective unconscious mind, urban archetypes, and the fusion of cultures in the New World.