The mass of almost one hundred thousand is edgy. The night is hot, humid, and alive with a feeling in the air so palpable you can almost trace it with your finger. The bleachers are filled to maximum capacity, along a mile-long stretch of paved roadway adjacent to an old brewery. People from all races, classes, and countries are celebrating together at the culmination of the orgiastic, pre-Lenten, hedonistic festival of Carnival. Soon, the first marchers proceed down the corridor to the booming cacophony of bass, snare, and friction drums. The rattling of tambourines, bells, and scrapers add flavor and accent. Like a bird set free, the singing cavaquinho (ukulele) emits its high pitched cries, adding to the frenzy. The marchers and …show more content…
The only stringed instrument is the high pitched cavaquinho (ukulele). Together these instruments fuse to create polyrhythyms that align and cross, reinforce and contrast with each other in a lively style less formal than maxixe or marcha. Couples often dance to samba in physically close, tight movements similar to the lundu and lambada, employing voluptuous movements, gyrating hips, and heel and leg movements often said to imitate the act of lovemaking.
To better appreciate Samba, one must understand the history of the country and the people that gave it life. Brazil's individual national character and rich musical tradition are the result of a profound mingling of races that has been ongoing in the country since the landing of Pedro Alvares Cabral in April 1500. Even before this event the indigenous Indians of Brazil had an already established musical culture; they sang solo and in chorus, played whistles, horns, and flutes, and beat out rhythms with hand-clapping, foot-stamping, rattles, beats, and drums. With the Portuguese invasion came the piano, violin, guitar, clarinet, and tambourine. These were incorporated into the musical forms of moda, modinha, acalanto, fofa, and fado, which were songs of sentiment, lullaby, and dance. The Portuguese also brought religious festivals and pageants such as the reisado and bumba-meu-boi. The former in celebration of the Epiphany and the latter an elaborate enactment of the death
The modernize approach of religion and traditions of the old African culture now converted into an Afro-Brazilian culture that still has an impact and exists today which is also still celebrated in Brazil. I believe that without slavery, many of the importance of both sides of society selling slaves and buying slaves would not have shaped humanity in the modern world. “Two centuries had seen African and European cultural religious and linguistic habits merging into unique Afro-Brazilian social and religious customs, music, and storytelling (Nellis 62).” The cultural influence of Afro-Brazilians has persistently grew from celebrations like carnaval into a mainstream popular culture. Brazil holds a variety of different ideas, culture and people. These ideas and traditions include musical interests, dancing, different food dishes, literature and art, festivities, and religious practices.
“Gaitas” is a musical rhythm created in Zulia, Venezuela, which is played especially in the month of December as a celebration of the Christmas holiday; it is composed by a melody of different instruments, such as cuatro, maracas, charrasca, tambora and furruco, which are traditional Caribbean instruments, but can be found in other parts of the world since they can be used in other music styles like Samba in Brazil or African dances. Its lyrics have a varied range of subjects raging from love, religion and politics, but always presented in a cheerful rhythm full of hope and hope to enhance the celebration of Christmas that is lived with great excitement and spirit of fiesta in Venezuela. It is also a tradition that at the senior year
You probably heard of Brazil but, do you know much about it? Brazil is a beautiful place or country, in South America. It’s great for tourists’ sites; it has amazing land features, and especially cool culture and history. Brazil has a tremendous amount of nature and folktale. Brazil was found actually, over 8,000 years ago. The Portuguese were the first European settlers to arrive there. The journey was led by Pedro Cabral who began in the 1500s. When they finally got there they found Native Americans living there. They were around the seven millions.
Throughout his book, Chasteen highlights the journeys undertaken by samba, tango, and salsa to emerge as sensational national rhythms in Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba respectively. The initial versions of these fusions were called maxixe, milonga, and danzon. Maxixe was known for its close, sustained contact between partners
This is a traditional Brazil religion practiced by the Africans communities living there . The dance was performed to appease their gods. It is done in traditional styles derived from the Yoruba and Bantu traditions. The songs and dances were developed by African priests who were traded as slaves. The priests had strong African beliefs and had gained great experience on the task thus they could easily influence more followers. The religion had no formal scripture and the priests used the word of mouth to pass their message to their congregations. The believers were followers of a god by the name Oludumaré who they asserted was their creator. The oludumare has his servants called the Orishas. The Orishas are in every person and every Orisha is assigned an individual to offer protection. The believers organize a number of ceremonies each year to commemorate some important events. In the ceremonies, Candomblé songs fill the air. The believers also offer offerings to their
It is Saturday, November 14, 2015 at Mesa, Arizona. A large crowd occupies large spaces all over downtown attending different stages of the first Mesa Musical Festival. Facing the Automotive Callahan Stage at Il Vinaio Restaurant, and only moments after a Rock 'n Roll band finish its performance, the place begins to fill with a public made up of many familiar faces. Voices in Spanish are confused with the English. Suddenly, some musicians begin to take the stage. Six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen people in total with a lot of musical instruments: keyboards, drums, congas, trumpet, bass, guitars, maracas, cuatro. The music starts, and immediately the public begin jumping, singing,
The concept of aesthetics describes what people of certain cultures tend to consider to be popular or in good taste (Wild & Wild, 2014). To this extent, despite being mostly unified by a single language, Brazil represents such a diverse culture that regional aesthetic variances could almost seem like they were different countries altogether (Castano, Goossens, Terlouw, and Vliet, n.d.). According to Encyclopedia Britannica, of all the cultures that make up the Brazilian way of life, the Portuguese culture is the dominant influence and provides the main language, religion, and many customs. Indigenous Indians and African influences are also apparent in some forms, especially in certain parts of the country.
A brief listen to the genre will present a stark contrast to the typical sound of "American funk". The bass-heavy music, accompanied by fast-paced drum breaks and various sound effects, is much different from the music of American funk pioneers such as James Brown. Originally, Brazilian funk sounded quite similar to its American counterpart. DJs regularly played artists such as James Brown and Parliament at baile funk gatherings in the 1970s (Palombini 99). During the 80s, DJs adjusted to changing music tastes and began to play "electro, freestyle, and techno" (Robinson). Despite the change in music, residents continued to refer to community dances as "baile funk" event since the environment, energy, and intensity of the gatherings was essentially the same as it was in the 70s (Robinson). During the mid 1980s, Brazilian DJs visiting America passed through Miami and got a taste of a budding hip-hop subgenre known as Miami bass (McNally 439). Brazilian DJs bought Miami bass music back to Brazil, often creating their own remixes of popular artists such as 2 Live Crew, and introduced their neighborhoods to a new style of music that would later be named funk carioca (McNally). Funk carioca adopted the name of Brazilian funk as it became the go-to genre of choice at baile funks (Palombini
Samba is the one of most popular and dance music from the Brazil. Back to the future, samba dance originaly was from Africa and brought to the country by members samba from Africa. After being brought into the brazil, Samba dance was popular and also become a folk song. Brazil’s largest cities are mostly found along the coastline and include Rio de Janiero,Sau Paulo and Salvador. The country was colonized by the Portuguese, who began arriving in the region around 1500. Since 1935, Samba dance will be performed for any Brazil carnaval for the example ‘Carnaval Rio de Janiero’. At Rio carnaval was a big carnaval in the world and performed every year.The driving samba beat conjures up images of revelers parading through the streets of Rio de Janeiro in frenetic celebration. That shows many supporters and tourism were like to know about Samba. In addition,they are also not only to perform but they also want to convey a massage in their performance, so that it can open the minds of people that the Samba this os one of the great folk music. Samba is strongly Afro-Brazillian, meaning that its musical characteristics are primarily drawn fr.om African ingredients but have a unique Brizilian flavour. Samba music makes you move from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head. Although, Samba is origin Africa its better known as a symbol of country of Brazil and has been recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of Brazil. Samba de Roda from Bahia, which is a world
Brazil is the largest country in South America in both population and size. Being such a large country brings many different people together making Brazil to be diverse. The culture of Brazil consists of “cultures of the indigenous Indians, Africans, and Portuguese have together formed the modern Brazilian way of life. The Portuguese culture is by far the dominant of these influences; from it Brazilians acquired their language, main religion, and most of their customs” (Burns, 2018). Brazil happens to be the only Portuguese speaking country in both North and South America. Portugal was the European nation that colonized Brazil back in the 1700’s (Meyer, 2010). Having ties from three separate cultures all coming into one proves Brazil's culture is unique, but the culture varies depending on where a person lives.
Brazil's individual national character and rich musical tradition are the result of a profound mingling of races that has been ongoing in the country since the landing of Pedro Alvares Cabral in April 1500. Even before this event the indigenous Indians of Brazil had an already conventional musical culture; they sang in chorus and solo, played horns, whistles, and flutes, and beat out rhythms with foot-stamping, beats, hand-clapping, rattles, and drums. With the Portuguese invasion came the violin, piano, clarinet, guitar, and tambourine. These were incorporated into the musical forms of modinha, moda, fofa, acalanto, and fado, which were songs of lullaby, sentiment, and dance. The Portuguese also brought religious festivals and pageants such as the bumba-meu-boi and reisado. The former in festivity of the Epiphany and the latter a rich enactment of the death and resurrection of a mythical bull. Entrudo, a rude festivity considered to be the precursor to Carnival, was also brought by the Portuguese. Less than forty years after the arrival of Cabral, the first African slaves were brought to Brazil. With them came another racial, cultural, and musical infusion. There were three main ethnic groups that contributed to the boiling Brazilian melting pot: the Sudanese, the Bantu, and the Moslem Guinea-Sudanese. They contributed the circle dance and lundu song, a precursor to the samba. (Smith)
In the mid nineteen thirties, when samba was till an emerging popular music of Rio de Janeiro, the most prominent samba composers offered several competing understandings of the genre itself and of its links to national identity. These ranged from reductive to romantic fantasies of samba springing from the bosom of an undifferentiated povo to sarcastic visions of samba as a satire of the pseudo civilization of Brazilian elites and authorities. The general acceptance of samba as a national symbol discouraged extensive discussion over the meaning of that symbolism and the historical investigation of its emergence. The reductive perceptions and understandings of samba profoundly influenced views of the music both within Brazil and internationally,
Ages, Languages, and Styles all varied throughout the streets of Chicago. 400 Thousand people gathering together for the same reason: the love of music. Anticipation flowing through the air as lines grew farther from the entrance. Faintly hearing the music while shuffling to the front. Making our way in I had to stop for a second. Suffocated by the overwhelming amount of music, I realized that there was no other place I’d rather be right now.
Stretching over 2,500 miles form east to west and 2,700 miles from north to south, Brazil is the world’s largest tropical country. The only nations that are larger are the lands of Russia, Canada, China and the United States. Brazil has more then 150 million people spread unevenly over its huge land area, making it the fifth most populated country in the world. (Encyclopedia.com) More then two thirds of Brazil’s people live in the cities and towns and more then 29 percent of them are in the ten cities with more then a million people. These include the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo with more then 15 million people and Rio de Janeiro with more then 9 million people. The rural population is mostly concentrated on the East Coast or
Samba is a Latin dance style that is Brazilian in origin. There are different forms of Samba dancing that are performed to Latin music of the same name. Some Samba styles are for individuals while others are for couples. The speed of the samba dance varies depending on the music and the style is one of the most popular Latin dances.