Samba Reggae

Samba Reggae 

In 1988, Brazil had carnivals in commemoration of the abolition of slavery throughout the country. Many freed slaves came together to celebrate. Bahia became the center of the celebrations. It became a way for the Brazilian black community to celebrate their heritage by dancing, singing, and playing the drums. The white Bahian elites lobbied to crack down on African parades. Then, in 1905, African groups were outlawed by Salvador's chief of police. In the nineteen sixties, the Afoxé represented more Afro-Bahian folkloric presentations during the carnival. In the nineteen seventies, there was another shift. The media encouraged the youth to connect with their African roots. Music expressed black pride and critiques of the social ideology of whitening of young black Brazilians. Organizations involved with Brazil's new black-conscious movement made a counter-celebration. The marches and demonstrations were going to expose the inequality and discrimination that non-white people faced. In Salvador de Bahia, Black carnival groups were the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. The group Blocos Afro was mainly composed of lower and working-class blacks. The carnivals took place predominantly within those same communities of Salvador. The Olodam became a global social enterprise that held traditional African art form workshops and other community events. Those forms would become part of the community's culture and identity. Each year, they chose to pay homage to different countries or ethnic groups through the theme. Although not always authentic. The music was rooted in the Sambian style with powerful drum textures and vocals. The pieces followed the typical call-and-response seen in African dance. Both songwriters and drummers practice the call-and-response format weeks before the carnival. In the nineteen eighties, the tempo became slower (emphasizing the lower drum group). They sang in a mixture of Yoruba and Portuguese. The subject matters touched on both African and Afro-Brazilian issues. Music equates with politics in their community. In conclusion, the Brazilian dance style has evolved and will continue to change alongside the culture and community. 

Workshop

The last workshop was held on campus on Thursday, February 15, at 2:30 pm. I made sure to wear comfortable clothes because dance classes can be intense. As I stepped into the dance studio, I spotted the DJ set up in the corner of the room. I knew that was going to be fun. Before the class started, everyone in the room seemed excited to get started. Then, together as a class, we gathered in a circle. The instructor made it a safe space by telling us that effort was the most important. Then, she asked us what we knew about Afro Reggae. She also told us a bit about the history of Afro Reggae dance and explained that saying nothing would be a service to the art and ancestors. She made it a point to highlight the struggles that people had to go through that allowed us to have that class. We started the class by stretching and warming up. The music that the DJ was playing was reggae with Afro beats. The music was very upbeat. The instructor mentioned that the movements would draw from traditional African dance forms. There was a movement where we had to lift our hands into the air. Epic memory was present through that movement because the instructor mentioned raising our hands to the sun god. There was religious or spiritual significance in the movement. There were curvilinear techniques shown through the many hip movements and turns. There was a repetition of the movement. The movements tended to be repeated on both the left and right sides. The feet and hands were moving simultaneously, indicating the presence of polyrhythms. As expressed in the readings, the dance is in a call-and-response format. The dance was a response to the beat and rhythms of the music played by the DJ. The hip movements were difficult because In conclusion, through the workshop I was able to experience a new form of dance and see the techniques in action.