Let's Dance!
I meant to tell everyone about this exciting part of my journey much earlier, but with me getting sick, I decided to just take it easy for a while. Nevertheless, here is my experience with a great party at a nearby "club" (club in the terms of settled, fairly well-to-do folks) and their party celebrating São João (St. John) and the abundance of corn.
According to Mr. Paulo, the dance that is traditionally used at these parties, "Forro" (pronounced fo-ho) actually derived from the 1940's, during the time of World War II. At that time, there were US troops in Brazil. At the bases, these troops would hold large parties "For all," where everyone, including Brazilians, were invited. When you say the name "Forro", and the words "for all," you will notice that they sound somewhat similar to one another; this is because "for all" is actually how the Brazilians ended up pronouncing and spreading the pronunciation of those words. Hence, "forro," the traditional Brazilian dance that everyone is invited to partake in.
There have been times when I have been extremely aware of myself being a gringa (foreigner) here. Let's face it- I'm about as pale as a sheet of paper, and trying to blend in would take some serious tanning. The night that we went to that party, however, I not only felt accepted by my boyfriend's family, but everyone. The dance wasn't difficult to get the hang of, and I had a blast! I hope you enjoy the photos and videos!
Mr. Paulo dancing Forro with me!
Forro parties were held in celebration of the corn and having a good harvest. these are all treats made from corn:
Now for some videos:
(Note: The only video uploader that would handle all of my videos and embed them, is vimeo. Unfortunately, vimeo is often slow, though it has a much clearer picture. This means you may want to hit play, then hit pause and wait for the entire video to load before watching, to make sure it has minimal stops through the movie when it plays. When it is finished loading, you can push play again and watch it all the way through.)
Mr. Paulo, Mrs. Terezinha, dancing like pro's!
Me, dancing with Mrs. Terezinha.
Some of the group dancing. In some of these videos, you can see the people dressed in extravigant, colored clothing. These are the traditional Forro dresses. You'll know them when you see them... they look different from everyone else. I believe the traditional dresses this time were mostly yellow and green, showing Brazilian Pride. (Yellow, Green, and Blue are the colors of the brazilian flag, and they are displayed everywhere down here.) In this particular version of the dance, a person uses a microphone to give directions to an impromptu line dance of sorts. They make up a "story" to go with it, having different people play "parts", like a Bride, Priest, Daughter, etc. The last couple of videos, I liked in particular.
According to Mr. Paulo, the dance that is traditionally used at these parties, "Forro" (pronounced fo-ho) actually derived from the 1940's, during the time of World War II. At that time, there were US troops in Brazil. At the bases, these troops would hold large parties "For all," where everyone, including Brazilians, were invited. When you say the name "Forro", and the words "for all," you will notice that they sound somewhat similar to one another; this is because "for all" is actually how the Brazilians ended up pronouncing and spreading the pronunciation of those words. Hence, "forro," the traditional Brazilian dance that everyone is invited to partake in.
There have been times when I have been extremely aware of myself being a gringa (foreigner) here. Let's face it- I'm about as pale as a sheet of paper, and trying to blend in would take some serious tanning. The night that we went to that party, however, I not only felt accepted by my boyfriend's family, but everyone. The dance wasn't difficult to get the hang of, and I had a blast! I hope you enjoy the photos and videos!
Mr. Paulo dancing Forro with me!
Forro parties were held in celebration of the corn and having a good harvest. these are all treats made from corn:
Now for some videos:
(Note: The only video uploader that would handle all of my videos and embed them, is vimeo. Unfortunately, vimeo is often slow, though it has a much clearer picture. This means you may want to hit play, then hit pause and wait for the entire video to load before watching, to make sure it has minimal stops through the movie when it plays. When it is finished loading, you can push play again and watch it all the way through.)
Mr. Paulo, Mrs. Terezinha, dancing like pro's!
Me, dancing with Mrs. Terezinha.
Some of the group dancing. In some of these videos, you can see the people dressed in extravigant, colored clothing. These are the traditional Forro dresses. You'll know them when you see them... they look different from everyone else. I believe the traditional dresses this time were mostly yellow and green, showing Brazilian Pride. (Yellow, Green, and Blue are the colors of the brazilian flag, and they are displayed everywhere down here.) In this particular version of the dance, a person uses a microphone to give directions to an impromptu line dance of sorts. They make up a "story" to go with it, having different people play "parts", like a Bride, Priest, Daughter, etc. The last couple of videos, I liked in particular.
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