Bale Folclorico

I've been hearing about this show for weeks. It's probably one of the big tourist shows to go to here, seeing as they have a performance nearly every night of the week and it always sells out (a deceptive idea because the the theatre is quite small). But Bale Folclorico is definitely a show that displays the richest aspects of Afro-Brazilian artistic expression - samba, percussion, dance, capoeira, candomble, elaborate and colorful dress. That's why it was worth it, and even though it was short and expensive, I would actually see it again.

There are about 5 different "scenes" or dance routines if you can think of it that way. It opens with a group of drummers, percussionists and two female singers lined up against the back wall, all dressed in attire reminiscent of West African fabrics and style - the women with large head wraps and crisp dresses and the men shirtless with cloth over one shoulder. The women sang very traditional Afro-Brazilian songs throughout, with many Yoruba lyrics, enough to make it difficult to understand. What also made it difficult to understand was the style of singing - there were lots of sustained notes and wails that stretched out words. Yet there was an unmistakable constant, powerful call-and-response between the singers and the drummers/percussionists. The dancers came out dressed as orixas for the first dance, set to a song paying tribute to the different gods. Each took her turn in the center, dancing in a possessed sort of way. The bodies moved smoothly and with resolve to the beat, but this was mixed with a lack of control, wild screams and crashing into others on stage. Each orixa had a different color and the customary wide ballroom gown looking ensemble on, representing the different theme of each orixa.  I tried to remember which was which...

The next scene was a much more choreographed scene in terms of dance, a more traditional samba really. The third scene was the craziest though. This one guy came out with three bowls of fire, one large one on his head and two smaller ones in each hand. He began a slow dance to drumbeat, balancing the fire with his body. Then he began moving very quickly as the beat picked up pace, his eyes occasionally rollin back into his head. He then put the bowls of coal and fire down and stepped on the fire! He not only stepped on it, he stood there and danced on it for 5 seconds each time. He then took out these two sticks and set one end of each on fire. He began his vigorous dance again, only this time he was rubbing the fire on his body!! He continually ran the fiery side of the stick up both arms and down his torso. It hurt to just look at that to be honest. Of course it wasn't done - he swallowed fire too! Repeatedly! I was impressed...The next was another samba, except this time there was a good amount of sword and stick fighting involved - the dancers weren't wearing much clothing for this scene, definitely an effort to claim the popularized, stereotyped way of African dress (men with small cloth to cover only their private parts and the women with short skirts and only their breasts covered).

The last set saw all the dancers come out, with the men doing some crazy crazy acrobatics. They were flipping all over the place, front and backflips. They then did a roda - meaning they formed a circle so people could play capoeira. Again it was amazing. It made my friend David (from Capoeira class) and I feel very inadequate - kinda like stepping onto a basketball court for the first time and taking some shots, then watching Kobe Bryant practice. Anyway, it was an awesome awesome show, and I highly recommend it!

Ribeira, Afro-Brazilian Dance, and Salsa

My time here in Brazil is rapidly coming to an end. It's pretty incredible to me. I'm trying to enjoy every day I have left as the countdown begins. Last weekend, I went to Ribeira, a relaxing beach neighborhood with the most famous ice cream in the city. While on this trip, I've thought about how cool it would be if my trip, instead of being based on African influences in Latin America, was based on ice cream tasting in cities around the world. How amazing would that be...unfortunately, that will have to be my next trip if I never get another opportunity - "Ice Cream Cultures: Uniting the Different Flavors of the World." I'm still thinking in thesis title mode. Anyway, Ribeira was so much fun. Despite the elevated number of people begging in the streets, which is somewhat surprising because of how laid back the place is, it's just wonderful. The main road runs along the Bay of All Saints, and there are small stands with delicious mixed juice drinks and bars with families, lovers and friends laughing as forro and samba plays from car stereos. People are dressed as if they're ready to jump into the water at any minute. People are dancing and smiling wide on every corner. Some people were visually tipsy that day even though it was the middle of the afternoon. It was all around lovely, and my friends, my host sister Karen, and I had some good conversation as the smooth breeze from the water cooled down another blazing hot day. As we had drinks and discussed life in Bahia, we noticed some couples in the water really expressing their love for each other, in an X-rated sort of way. Even though it was underwater, I know thrusting when I see it. It was kind of disturbing that that was happening so out in the open, but I guess as long as you don't stare at it happening, it's all good for everyone - that was my rationale at least to make it less awkward...Ribeira is close to Igreja do Bonfim, which I saw shortly after arriving a few months ago. Yesterday I went to the beach at Boa Viagem right near the beach, which was really gorgeous.

Another highlight of this past week was my foray into Afro-Brazilian dance class. My friend Paula here takes the classes every week and invited me along. She told me that I would really sweat, and I had just come from the gym so I was a bit worried about looking extremely tired. But I made it all the way through. The class was funny, a good mix of gringos and locals. The teacher was a small woman with wide curls and TONS of energy. After 15 minutes, Paula told me we were still warming up, to which I replied, "What the hell?!" Some Olodum guys played the drums on the side, switching up the beat depending on the dance we were doing. It involved a lot of low to the ground dancing, a lot of stomping, quick feet movements, etc. My mom asked me if it was similar to some of the dances I know we do in Nigerian dances and I wasn't sure how to answer. I had no idea what separated the Brazilian aspects from the African aspects, but I guess that's the point. It definitely did resemble some dances I've seen my mom do with her women's group at parties or something like that. True to form, my shirt was see-through when the class was over, and it looked like I just washed ashore from the Atlantic ocean. I'm going to return this week to get some pictures of the class. After class and two giant acais (I am hooked on this stuff, completely addicted), my friends and I went to Geronimo and then to live samba and pagode in the Terreiro do Jesus. Then we went off to Sankofa for the salsa...

I still would like to have dinner at Sankofa soon because I think it's owned by Ghanaians. That same night we went though the place was transformed into a salsa club with a live band. Now I've never taken any salsa classes and I wouldn't say I know how to dance salsa, but I love to pretend. You just twirl the girl around as much as you can and throw in some dips here and there - not that hard. During the band's break, this guy came out dressed in traditional West African garb and plugged in his computer. Turns out he was the DJ for the interlude. He mixed some reggae with some West African highlife/Juju, which was awesome. It was funny too because every now and then he would play a horrible song, everyone would stop dancing, but he was so into it he didn't notice. So he just kept on dancing like everything was fine, a pretty symbolic way of describing life here - no matter what the happiness seems to remain.

Puerto Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Colonia Uruguay and the Black Celebrity Part 2

Buenos Aires is an interesting city. It has the feel of an old European capitol. It definitely is a quieter city - even though it's quite a large city, it doesn't have that same hustle and bustle feel for some reason. I have to admit that I arrived with some preconceived notions of the place. People repeatedly told me how there were absolutely no black people in the city (which is almost true...). My friend who studied abroad here for a semester recounted for me how one time on the bus a group of guys were making monkey noises at her (she's a black woman). And I had some recent conversations about the vastly unknown genocide of Afro-Argentines that took place in the 19th century I believe (literally they were rounded up into stadiums and left to die, and the leaders of that era openly spoke about perfecting the Argentine nation and purging the land of its black inhabitants). Needless to say, I arrived not expecting to be in the most welcoming place in the world - a feeling augmented by the portenos (residents of BsAs) to be "assholes." It actually says that in my guide book...

I stayed in Recoleta, an upscale neighborhood, with my friend Ryon in his apartment. Ryon is an amazing host so I immediately felt at home and could begin exploring immediately. In Recoleta I visited the famous cemetery in BsAs where most dignitaries, leaders, and military types or buried in these elaborately sculpted tombs. The cemetery was pretty huge, and the only name I recognized was Eva Peron (Evita!). But boy was there some beautiful and interesting art. Some of the tombs were a bit over the top, with gold and silver everywhere and giant statues of angels, or of the deceased person, flanking the tomb. I'm not sure if I would eer want to be buried with such opulence, but some of those tombs were very cool looking, I must admit.  After exploring the cemetery, I took a walk around the neighborhood, stopping in Freddo's for some of the famous ice cream in BsAs. I'm an ice cream fiend so it wouldn't be so off the mark to say the major reason I visited was for some ice cream. The dulce de leche con brownie almost brought me to tears because of how good it was. Just picture that - me sitting in an ice cream parlor, eating with a single tear of joy coming down my face. A little dramatic I know, and it didn't happen, but it sort of did in my mind.  I also spent some time in Palermo during my trip, seeing the plazas and the parks and all the small boutiques. It's definitely a good place to get a meal with friends or chill at a bar with some Quilmes...

Speaking of food, the steak in BsAs is out of this world. I was in love. The meat is so fresh, cooked so well. I went out with Ryon and his family for a steak dinner one night, and it was just too delicious. The red wine there is also quite tasty. One thing that was definitely difficult to get used to in a week was the very different schedule of Argentines. Dinner is regularly had at 10 or 11pm; people don't dare arrive at the club pre-2am; and seeing the sun rise apparently means you had a good night. For me, that just meant I was really tired. We had a blast though with it - we went to this club called Wet Club which I highly recommend. It began feeling like a high school dance and by the end of the night it felt like mostly thirty somethings. And they played everything from hip-hop to Argentine reggaeton to electronic - a crazy mix. We had some laughs there. We also went out to a bunch of bars and restaurants. I definitely ate very very well.  The Argentine peso is so weak compared to the dollar since the economic crash that happened there in 2001, that visitors can afford to spend more loosely (although I was a little upset about the $20 they charge you to leave the country...not a sweet goodbye)

So my black celebrity moment in BsAs happened in la Boca, a small neighborhood with El Caminito, a strip with arts, crafts, restaurants, and old, colorful Argentine architecture. Apparently it's a must-see for the tourists. I went with my friend Sara one day, and we took a nice stroll through the place, admiring the quaint buildings and the paintings of people dancing the tango. Out of nowhere these guy walk up to us, I don't even think he said hi. They asked me where I was from and when I said the U.S., from New Jersey, he got very excited and said, "B.I.G.! Big poppa, yea man! Oh and R. Kelly too! But he pees on little girls and that's nasty...And 50 Cent! Go, go, go shawty, its your birthday." I was waiting for the ignorance to stop, as Sara and I laughed at the awkwardness as these guys were singing and rapping and walking with us. One guy started beat-boxing, another was singing an inappropriate R. Kelly song. I was asked if I rapped or played basketball twice in like 40 seconds. I think there was a small reference to Obama in there somewhere, which made me a little less appalled. It was definitely hilarious though. It got me thinking of all the different things those guys mentioned, which they thought would resonate with me as an African-American - the music, the pop culture, the images that undoubtedly dominate public representations of black American men in the city. How interesting - again I was a celebrity for a little while...

During my time in Argentina, Ryon and I took a short trip to Uruguay, which was fun. It was this small town, without much to do but walk around, eat, and sit by the water. I've learned to appreciate places like this more though, so I actually had fun. We had the traditional Uruguayan food - chiva, which is steak covered in egg, cheese and ham - a little indulgent for me but not bad. Ryon and I had some good conversation, reminisced about our college years which are getting further and further away (almost a year ago now), and we played twenty questions (a classic game). All in all, BsAs and Uruguay and the rest of the places I visited were a blast! I had a lot of fun, met some cool, interesting people, and gained a new respect for Salvador, my new home away from home. I was excited to return, even though the city is much quieter now (in comparison, there are definitely still street parties all the time). And I only have a few weeks left, so I'm trying to do all I can with the time I have...