essay about samba

Samba

Carnaval

�  The celebration just prior to Lent (similar to Mardi Gras here)

�  Brazil’s is one of the biggest and most influential

�  Important time for displaying nationalism

�  4-day official celebration, but the “season” goes all the way back to the New Year

�  Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife/Olinda have the biggest celebrations in Brazil

Creating a national identity

�  Brazil had trouble creating a national identity for the following reasons:

1.  Regionalism – Brazil was big, and was divided by geographic features such as the Amazon rainforest

2.  No strong catalyst – they didn’t have to fight for their independence

3.  Identity issues – Brazilians had trouble reconciling their many different ethnicities, and especially had trouble accepting the African and indigenous cultures

Quote from a samba song

�  “He who doesn’t like samba isn’t a good guy; he’s rotten in the head or sick in the feet.”

Samba

�  Family of styles – there are many distinct types of samba, just as there are many distinct types of jazz

�  1st National style – became very important in helping Brazil find their national identity

�  African roots were maintained and developed in the state of Bahia during slavery

Development

�  Mostly developed in Rio de Janeiro

�  After slavery, many Afro-Brazilians moved to big cities in the South (like Rio) looking for work

�  There, they would maintain a sense of community by getting together to sing, dance, and practice candomblé �  Candomblé = a religion that combines African religion

with Catholicism; practiced by a small group of Afro- Brazilians

�  Samba developed in these gatherings

Early samba

�  Mixed Afro-Brazilian music with other styles

�  Duple meter, strong 2nd beat

�  Call and response, interlocking, syncopation

�  Marginalized – seen as lower class music

Samba Canção

�  1930s, an upscale version of samba developed

�  Melody, complex harmony

�  Sophisticated lyrics

�  For the middle class

Carmen Miranda

�  1940s – Broadway, Hollywood

�  Main samba canção singer in Brazil

�  Exotic to Americans – the first exposure people in the U.S. had to Brazilian music

�  Watch the following clip: www.youtube.com/watch? v=DFwNXoEzRgY&feature=related

Samba de Morro

�  As Rio developed, the poor people were displaced to the morros , or hills. They took the original lower class samba with them.

�  They developed favelas, or squatter communities. These favelas are still the center of samba activity in Brazil.

�  Samba de morro is mostly percussion and voices.

�  Lyrics are social and political.

“Acender as Velas”

�  Here’s an excerpt from the lyrics of a typical “samba de morro” from this time.

�  “When there’s no samba, there’s disillusion. It’s one more heart that stopped beating, one more angel that goes to Heaven. May God forgive me, but I’ll say it; the doctor arrived too late. Because on the hill, there are no cars to drive, no telephones to call, no beauty to be seen. And we die without wanting to die.”

�  Listen to the song here:

�  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrSOtIjKDVU

Samba meets Carnaval

�  During Carnaval, there were elite masked balls for upper class

�  The lower class had street parties.

�  Eventually, samba became the main music played by the lower class.

Early samba schools

�  Not really schools! A samba school is just a group of samba musicians/dancers.

�  1928 – “Deixa Falar” was the first samba school. Their name means “Let them speak,” and protested censorship.

�  Originally oppressed; if they went outside of the favelas, they would be arrested and/or beaten.

Legitimization of the schools

�  1935 – President of Brazil officially recognizes parades

�  Schools moved downtown

�  1984 – Sambadrome was built – this is a large stadium for the samba school parades, which are held during Carnaval every year.

The Mystery of Samba!

�  Why did samba go from being a marginalized style to being a symbol of nationalism for all Brazilians?

�  Short answer: acceptance of Afro-Brazilian culture

�  The long answer can be found on the next several slides (numbered 1 – 5). (come on, you knew there would be a long answer!)

1. Search for a national identity by elite artists

�  1922 – week of modern art. This was an attempt by fine artists to find their Brazilian identity

�  1928 – “Cannibalist Manifesto” – this document stated that artistic cannibalism is the solution to the problem of Brazil’s identity.

�  Artistic cannibalism is the idea that you have to ingest all of the different influences of Brazil (Portuguese, African, etc), digest them, and spit them back out. The end product is the true Brazilian identity.

�  True Brazilian identity lies in unique mixture of cultures.

2. Government desire for nationalism

�  The government realized that it was to their benefit to promote nationalism.

�  President Getúlio Vargas advocated folk and popular music

�  He was the one that legitimized and offered support for samba schools, because he realized that they were producing an authentic mix of Brazilian culture.

3. International Recognition

�  Good Neighbor Policy (1930s) – U.S. policy that resulted in cultural exchanges between U.S. and Latin America

�  Brazilian music heard on radio broadcasts in Europe

�  Carmen Miranda became popular in U.S.

�  All of these things were well-received, and showed Brazilians that they had a unique product to offer.

4. Popularity of more “respectable” samba styles

�  Samba canção – the middle class samba eventually led people to the original street samba. It is the street samba, or samba de morro, that eventually becomes Carnaval samba, and the national style of Brazil.

�  Exalted samba – these nationalistic sambas became very popular as well, and lyrics often stated that samba is what it means to be Brazilian.

�  Listen to “Aquarela do Brasil” – lyrics are on the next several slides. �  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RrDAI7tFzU

“Aquarela do Brasil”

�  Brazil, my Brazilian Brazil

�  My devious mulatto

�  I’m going to sing of you in my songs

�  Oh Brazil, samba that makes us sway and swing

�  Oh Brazil, the place I love, land of our Lord

�  Brazil, Brazil, for me, for me

Cont…

�  Oh draw back the curtain from the past

�  Take the wet-nurse from the fields

�  Let the king of the Congo perform

�  Brazil, Brazil

Cont…

�  Let the troubadour sing again in the melancholy moonlight

�  All the songs of my love

�  I want to see the lady of the house walk by through the great rooms in her lace-trimmed dress.

�  Brazil, Brazil, for me, for me.

Cont…

�  Brazil, a good and beautiful land of the headstrong mulatto girl with the indiscreet look

�  Brazil, a green land for the world to marvel at

�  Oh Brazil, the place I love, land of our Lord

�  Brazil, Brazil, for me, for me

Cont…

�  Oh that coconut palm that bears coconuts where I hang my hammock in the clear moonlit nights

�  Brazil, Brazil

�  Oh those murmuring springs where I quench my thirst and where the moon comes out to play

Cont…

�  Oh that beautiful dark Brazil is my Brazilian Brazil

�  The land of samba and tambourines

�  Brazil, Brazil, for me, for me.

5. Reliance on schools for tourism

�  1960 – Capital city moves to from Rio to Brasilia

�  Tourism became the main industry in Rio, and Carnaval was their biggest attraction

�  There was pressure on the schools for a bigger spectacle

�  They were offered prize money and sponsorship

Samba School Parades

�  By this time, the samba parades had been organized into a big competition.

�  Rio de Janeiro was the center of Carnaval in Brazil, and the samba school parade was the main attraction.

Themes

�  1939 – nationalistic theme was required by all samba schools. Examples included important people or events in Brazilian history, a celebration of the different ethnicities of Brazil, etc.

�  Everything in the parade depicts the theme; they are judged on how theme is portrayed

�  Since 1985 (when Brazil became a democracy), themes can be anything. Recent themes include some nationalistic themes, but also things like traffic safety or space travel.

Competition

�  There are several distinct schools, often based in favelas in Rio. Each has its own theme, its own song, its own floats. They compete against each other.

�  Group A = top 16 schools from previous year’s rankings.

�  Being in Group A is very prestigious. Winning is even more prestigious, of course!

The Process

�  Carnavalesco = artistic director; chooses the school’s theme and gets it approved by a board of directors

�  June: composers write songs based on the theme; a handful are chosen

�  September: rehearsals begin on those songs

�  October: final song chosen by the entire group

�  December: “Group A” songs recorded and distributed nationwide, and eventually internationally

The Parade Itself

�  3000 – 5000+ members

�  Several “wings,” or subgroups within the school

�  Includes sections such as: �  Flag Bearing couple �  Baianas –women who represent roots in Bahia �  Batería – percussion �  Lead singer �  Master dancers

Cont…

�  Members with no specific role will just sing and dance

�  Also judged on elaborate costumes, floats, and the overall impression

�  Each school has 90 minutes to parade.

�  Watch this clip: (warning: there is brief nudity at about 9:30. stop watching at 9:00 if that will offend you)

�  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1rQ7iuOYO0