This paper results from a doctoral thesis in/on/throught performance (affective, corporal and verbal) of Paysandu passionate crowd, a famous football team from Brazil. The research enters the field of sports anthropology and, more specifically, performance studies. Our understanding of performance comes, doubly, from the theories of Judith Butler, who conceives it as reiteration of norms; and Richard Schechner, who understands it as “restored behavior” – physical or verbal actions that are prepared or rehearsed, or not being performed for the first time. This means that an action – to be considered a performance – must include traces of other performances performed previously. This statement generates a contradiction: how can something be repeated and unprecedented at he same time? Schechner responds by saying that pieces of restored behavior can repeat infinitely, but the events will never repeat themselves. Schechner is not only referring to restored behavior – moods, body language, verbal formulas, etc – but also to context and occasion. Such a perspective applies perfectly to the performances we intend to analyze here. “My behavior (gestures, spells, prayers) as a Paysandu fan was initially learned at home. Over time, in the interaction with other fans, it underwent modifications” – says Lucienne Ellem (author). When we observe the performances of Paysandu fans, in a match, we ask ourselves: What bodies are built by these fans in each game? What are the relations between the ephemeral performances of fans and those of players on the pitch? What verbal formulas are repeatedly uttered by fans and why are they more effective than others? How do these performances become more and more elaborate and ritualized? To what extent do they contribute to the affirmation of the team's identity? What is the nature of the “passion” of Paysandu fans? That's what we'll try to answer here.
