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Published in The Magazine Dana & Cia./ # 23June/ July 2002

Section Brazilian Dance and Popular Culture

Children dancers, marry-makers Ers

Rosana Baptistella

In the previous issues, we highlighted the crucial role of the reflection, research, and creation

in Brazilian dance. Likewise, field research is also essential to the artist so that he or she can

experience the cultural reality surrounding the dance theyre studying. Contemporaneity is

another essential characteristic of it, since the popular culture is often seen as something that

belongs to the past and is in a process of extinction. Its believed that people no longer do it.

However, a given culture is always alive whenever the persons that take part in it, respect it

most deeply. In other word, even though it may seem dead, it is still there in constant

transformation.

Children have an essential role in that, especially when it comes to keep the culture alive. It isabout those little ers that we are going to talk about in this article.

Since early age, they watch and take part in the dances, so they learn their movements,

gestures, and songs. Therefore, to learn their communitys knowledge doesnt require any oral

or formal transmission; even if sometimes they rehearse, or are told to move like this or like

that, most times they learn naturally by simply doing their daily cores, or whenever they take

part in some important celebration.

They inherit from their parents, grandparents, or from any other person related to their lives

and cultural background, the joy of dancing and playing like the grownup members of their

communities.

Therefore, their greatest encouragement can be seen when they say they want to be like a

given captain, master, dancer, party goer, etc. Its still so, even when sometimes theyre

banished from the adults celebrations. In this case, they simply create a game where they can

mirror their roles model.

Nevertheless, most often they actively take part in these celebrations by playing central roles

themselves. In the Arturos community in Contagem, Minas Gerais State, some children play

the role of small captains in the Congado by holding sticks and playing gungas, a kind of

sacred instrument. In Santo Antonio do Leverger in Mato Grosso State, girls and boys dance

and sing to Siriri and play Boi--Serra either among themselves or with the adults. In some

towns there are children dances identical to the adult ones such as Junior Congo or Conguinho

in Vila Bela da Santssima Trindade in Mato Grosso and Junior Zambiapunga in Nilo Peanha

in Bahia.

On occasions, playfulness and religious devotion are clearly set apart. However, on some

others, theyre totally mixed together. After all, to children, there is seriousness in play, and

when it comes to dancing, those two elements are closely joined together. However sacred it

is, there is always joy and happiness in dancing.

In spite of being small, these agile and strong bodies show very well articulated and

expressive movements as a result of a careful observation as well as of their cultural heritage.

Sometimes theyreso small that they give in to tiredness and fall asleep in someones cosy lap

during the celebration. Nothing to worry about as even so, theyre there, participating. Arentthem?