Forró
Encyclopedia
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
as well as a word used to denote the different genres of music which accompanies the dance. Both are much in evidence during the annual Festa Junina
Festa Junina
Festa Junina , also known as festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist, are the annual Brazilian celebrations historically related to European Midsummer that take place in the beginning of the Brazilian winter...
(June Festival), a part of Brazilian traditional culture which celebrates some Catholic saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s. The most celebrated day of the festival is known as São João
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
.
Origin of the term
There are several theories on the origin of the name."Forró" in the same written way (with the accented o) in the Hungarian language means "burning hot". In the 1940s, there were thousands of Hungarian emigrants arriving to South-America. This is thought to have led to the naming of this dance.
Another accepted theory puts forró as a derivative of forrobodó, meaning "great party" or "commotion". This is the view held by Brazilian folklorist Câmara Cascudo, who studied the Brazilian Northeast through most of his life. Forrobodó is believed to come from the word forbodó (itself a corruption of fauxbourdon
Fauxbourdon
Fauxbourdon – French for false bass – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, particularly by composers of the Burgundian School. Guillaume Dufay was a prominent practitioner of the form, and may have been its inventor...
), which was used in the Portuguese court to define a dull party.
Another theory often heard popularly in Brazil is that the word forró is a derivative of the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
expression "for all" and that it originated in the early 1900s. English engineers on the Great Western Railway of Brazil near Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
would throw balls on weekends and classify them as either only for railroad personnel or for the general populace ("for all"). This belief was somewhat reinforced by a similar practice by USAF personnel stationed at the Natal Air Force Base
Natal Air Force Base
Natal Air Force Base – BANT is a base of the Brazilian Air Force, located in Parnamirim, near Natal, Brazil.It shares some facilities with Augusto Severo International Airport.-History:...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but it is not possible because before the USAF went to Natal, the name "Forró" was already in use.
Popularity
Forró is the most popular genre in Brazil's Northeast. It is the name of the dance. Different genres of music can be used to dance the forró. Traditionally, all of these music genres uses only three instruments (accordionAccordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, zabumba
Zabumba
A zabumba is a type of bass drum used in Brazilian music. The player wears the drum while standing up and uses both hands while playing.The zabumba generally ranges in diameter from 16 to 22 inches, and is 5 to 8 inches tall. The shell is made of wood and may utilize either skin or plastic drum...
and a metal triangle). The dance also become very different as you cross the borders of the Northeast into the Southeast. As part of the popular culture it is in constant change. The dance known as college forró is the most common style between the middle-class students of colleges and universities in the Southeast, having influences of other dances like salsa and samba-rock. The traditional music used to dance the forró was brought to the Southeast from the Northeast by Luiz Gonzaga
Luiz Gonzaga
Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento was a very prominent Brazilian folk singer, songwriter, musician and poet. Born in the countryside of Pernambuco , he is considered to be responsible for the promotion of northeastern music throughout the rest of the country...
, who transformed the baião (a word originated from baiano and assigned a warm-up for artists to search for inspiration before playing) into a more sophisticated rhythm. In later years, forró achieved popularity throughout Brazil, in the form of a slower genre known as xote, that has been influenced by pop-rock music to become more acceptable by Brazilian youth of Southeast, South and Central regions.
Themes
Forró lyrics are usually about love and romance, passion, jealousy, or reminiscing about an ex-lover.They often are about Northeastern themes and the longing or homesickness (saudade
Saudade
Saudade ) is a unique Galician-Portuguese word that has no immediate translation in English. Saudade describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. It often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return...
) that was often experienced during migrations in search of work. An example of this are the lyrics of a folkloric, anonymous song, very popular in the Northeast and made famous across the country by Luiz Gonzaga, "Asa Branca
Asa Branca
Asa Branca is a song written by Luiz Gonzaga and Humberto Teixeira in 1947. It has been covered by Zé Ramalho in his 2003 album Estação Brasil, also see Forro in the Dark with David Byrne. It is about the droughts that often afflict the sertão of the Brazilian Northeast:The asa-branca of the title...
" (the literal translation is White Wing; there is a recent American version played by Forro in the Dark featuring David Byrne) in which the singer says he will return home when the rains fall again on the dry, barren land of Northeast. They will know he is coming when they see a certain white winged bird of the savanna (sertão) that only arrives when it rains.
Artists
Luiz GonzagaLuiz Gonzaga
Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento was a very prominent Brazilian folk singer, songwriter, musician and poet. Born in the countryside of Pernambuco , he is considered to be responsible for the promotion of northeastern music throughout the rest of the country...
and Jackson do Pandeiro
Jackson do Pandeiro
José Gomes Filho , more commonly known as Jackson do Pandeiro , was a Brazilian percussionist and singer....
are two of the most traditional forró composers. Major forro musicians include Elba Ramalho, Aviões do Forro, Garota Safada, Esfregue Dance, Forró Sacode Geraldo Azevedo, Accioly Neto, Trio Nordestino, Dominguinhos, Eliane, Marinês, Falamansa, Trio Virgulino, Sivuca, Pertúcio Amorim, Santanna, Rastapé, Geraldinho Lins, João do Vale, Flávio José, Trio Forrozão, Jacinto Silva, Arlindo dos Oito Baixos, Santana, Vicente Nery, Jorge de Altinho, Arleno Farias, Nando Cordel, Aldemário Coelho, Delmiro Barros, Genival Lacerda
Genival Lacerda
Genival Lacerda is a Brazilian forró singer born in Paraíba.. , BillboardHis main hits were Severina xique-xique and Radinho de Pilha-References:...
, Renato Leite, and others like Nelio Guerson & Carlos Guerson
Styles of forró
There are three rhythms of forró, xote (a slower-paced rhythm), baião (the original forró) and arrasta-pé (the fastest of the three), and amongst these, many styles of dancing, which varies from region to region, and may be known by different names according to the location. Forró is danced in pairs, usually very close together, with the man's left hand holding the woman's right hand as in the WaltzWaltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, his right arm around her back and her left arm around his neck; Other styles may require to stay partially away, or in a considerable distance, only holding their hands up the shoulders. Influences from salsa
Salsa (dance)
Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and African cultures.Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle...
and other Caribbean dances has given mobility to forró, with the woman - and occasionally the man - being spun in various ways, although it's not mandatory to spin at all, and more complex movements may prove impossible to be executed in the usually crowded dancing area of forrós. Follows below a list of the most popular styles of forró in Brazil:
Xote
- xote: a basic style, danced close together in a left-left-right-right movement, and has no spinning or variations;
- forró-love: similar to xote, but with a strong influence from zouk-loveZouk-loveZouk-love is a genre of popular French West Indian music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish...
; - universitário: the most popular style outside the Northeast, much like the xote, but with the partners moving forward and backward, much like traditional BoleroBoleroBolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
. It contains many variations of movements; - miudinho: the man dances with his left side slightly tilted, his left hand on the woman's waist and her both her hands around his neck. Danced in the same place (mobility can be gained through spinning), has a lot of hip movements;
- puladinho/manquinho: is danced with the man's right leg still and his left leg marking the beats on the ground, while the woman with her left leg still and her right leg moving (the partners can exchange the leg positions, although it's not common);
- merenguinho: the partners move along the sides, with movements similar to MerengueMerengue (dance)Merengue El camino1ro de Secundaria-In popular culture:* Merengue was mentioned as a song performed between Babs and Charlie in the song by Steely Dan....
dance; - cavalguinho: much like the puladinho, but with man and woman marking both their legs on the ground in alternate tempos, as if riding a horse.
Xote originally has its roots in the schottische dance.
Baião
- baião/pé-de-serra: basically a style of xote, but with the partners tilting to the sides and moving their legs less to follow the faster rhythm;
- cacau: comes from Paraíba, in which the partners dance slightly away from each other in very fast leg movements;
- amassa-cacau: a variation of cacau from Ceará, it's danced less close and demands a lot of hip movements, with the legs mimicking a person squeezing cacao
- valsado: danced close together, consists of moving along the sides, crossing the legs in front of each other;
- valsadão: same as valsado, but danced slightly away from each other. It is, together with universitário, the richest style in terms of movements and variations;
- forrófieira: a newer style, mixes the traditional forró with steps and influence from Samba de GafieiraSamba de GafieiraSamba de Gafieira is a partner dance to the Brazilian samba musical rhythms.Samba de Gafieira must be distinguished from the ballroom Samba, danced in International Latin and American Rhythm ballroom dance styles....
, and it has become quite popular in Rio de Janeiro and some parts of Northeast.
Arrasta-pé
- arrasta-pé: can only be danced to its own style, much like a very fast xote, but alternately marking the beats on the ground with both legs.
Miudinho and puladinho can also be danced to baião music and even to arrasta-pé, but in the latter the leg work is so intense that it's impracticable. Some people also like to include brega/calypso in the forró category, because this dance has suffered much influence of forró throughout the decades, but it's danced to its own rhythm (not to be mistaken with Calypso music
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
).
Steps
Forro dancing styles are informally often grouped into two main "families", simply for practical reasons: The older Nordestino (North-eastern) type of Forro and the Universitário (University) Forro that developed later in the South.Nordestino forro is danced with the couple much closer together, with their legs often inter-twined and a characteristic sideways shuffle movement. Because of the intimacy, there are not as many step variations in this style.
Universitário forro, with its origins in the big southern cities of Brazil, is the more popular style outside of the north-east. Its basic step is forward-backwards - slightly similar to traditional Bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
or Salsa
Salsa (dance)
Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and African cultures.Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle...
. With more space between the pair, many more moves, steps and turns are possible than in Nordestino styles. The more common steps include:
- Dobradiça - the couple opens to the side;
- Caminhada - simple step of the couple to the front or the back;
- Comemoração - balancing step, with the man's leg between the ladies';
- Giros - a variety of turns, both simple and ones involving both dancers;
- Oito - a movement of both dancers around each other, side by side.
Universitário forro supposedly evolved from (and is still very similar to) the pé-de-serra/baião styles, while Nordestino is used to refer to the styles more like the original xote.
Instruments used
The instruments most commonly used in forró are:- AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
- Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Drum kitDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- FiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
- PandeiroPandeiroThe pandeiro is a type of hand frame drum.There are two important distinctions between a pandeiro and the common tambourine. The tension of the head on the pandeiro can be tuned, allowing the player a choice of high and low notes...
- Shaker
- Triangle (instrument)Triangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
- ZabumbaZabumbaA zabumba is a type of bass drum used in Brazilian music. The player wears the drum while standing up and uses both hands while playing.The zabumba generally ranges in diameter from 16 to 22 inches, and is 5 to 8 inches tall. The shell is made of wood and may utilize either skin or plastic drum...
drum