ASU GAMMAGE
JANUARY 19, 2012
SCOTTSDALE INSURANCE/NATIONWIDE FOUNDATION
PERFORMANCES FOR STUDENTS SERIES
GGrruuppoo
GGrruuppoo
LLiibbeerrddaaddee
A Note to the Teacher:
Thank you for attending our Scottsdale Insurance/ Nationwide Foundation Performances for Students Series! We believe at ASU Gammage that it is more important than ever to provide students with a well rounded education and what better way to communicate this to our youth than by attending a public performance! The Grupo Liberdade study guide is intended for teachers to enhance their students’ enjoyment and understanding of the performance and we hope that you find this guide as a way of connecting education and the arts as one.
This study guide will explore different ways of combining the arts and academics in the classroom and by doing so students can become excited about learning through the magic of the performing arts. This guide includes background information and learning activities which are designed to encourage students to explore ideas and themes found in the Grupo Liberdade performance. Please share this guide with your students before and after the performance to maximize their understanding and enjoyment of the performance.
Your opinion is very important to us. We welcome your comments as well as those of your students. Please feel free to contact us about your experience attending our show at ASU Gammage; we would love to hear more about your experience. Thank you for your patronage and enjoy the performance.
Sincerely,
Melissa Vuletich
Cultural Participation Manager
ASU Gammage
Grupo Liberdade supports education through the arts
and offers custom performances for community,
corporate & private events in addition to experiential
workshops & private lessons under the direction of
Poranguí. Please sign-up on our email list to learn
about future events & workshops across Arizona by
visiting www.BrasilAZ.com or
www.grupoliberdade.com to get more information.
Grupo Liberdade is a performance group dedicated to freedom of expression through
Culture, Movement and Sound. They promote community, diversity & empowerment, drawing upon the
traditional & contemporary rhythms of Brasil and beyond while bringing an original sound & energy to our desert
metropolis.
Since 2004, the group has performed throughout Arizona under the direction of Brasilian native, Poranguí from
leading the Annual Phoenix Parade of the Arts through downtown Phoenix to producing & performing for the
largest Brasilian cultural events in the state with Carnaval AZ and Brasil Fest Arizona at the Musical Instrument
Museum. Dedicated to creating music to move the body & soul, this project brings together diversity on all levels
with an incredible show of talented musicians & dancers that must not be watched, but experienced!
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
Who is grupo
liberdade?
Liberdade means liberty or freedom in Portuguese
InSTrument glossary
by musical styles
MATCHING ACTIVITY!
Here is a list of some of the instruments you will see Grupo
Liberdade play!
Match the picture on the right with the instrument description
on the left!
SAMBA
Repinique: a high-pitched tom-tom played with a single stick and the hand. Traditionally the leader of the ensemble uses the repinique (also referred to as 'repique') to direct and solo.
Surdo: the largest drum in the ensemble traditionally used in a set of three sizes and pitches. It provides the foundation or heartbeat of the entire ensemble
Pandeiro: similar to a tambourine and played elaborately with the hands to create a variety of sounds and dynamics.
CAPOEIRA
Atabaque: The drum used in Capoeira Roda is similar to the Conga drum. It is a tall drum traditionally made from wood to form an elongated ellipticall shape while a calfskin head covers the top of the drum.
Berimbau: The berimbau is the most important instrument in Capoeira. It controls the style and speed of the game. It is a bowed instrument with a gourd attached. It is made up of the cabaça (gourd), the beriba (wooden bow), and arame (wire). The sound is made with the baqueta (beater) and the tone is changed by pressing the pedra (rock) against the wire.
MARACATU
Agogo : two distinctly pitched bells similar to cow bells in timbre usually tuned to an interval such as a 3rd or 4th.
Abê: A gourd shaker covered in brightly colored plastic or ceramic beads. This is also called a ‘shekere’.
SAMBA AFRO or
SAMBA REGGAE
Timbal: a long, cone-like wood or metal hand drum that is used to produce both high & low tones in the ensemble.
LISTEN… During the performance for
dialogue between the repinique and surdos
Match the picture on the right with the instrument description
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
For younger students
(grades 3-5)
Describe the influence music has on your life. Draw a picture that shows
this.
For older students (grades 6-8)
Identify other instruments used in
Brazilian culture. What instruments do
you feel define American culture?
In red are the Brasilian musical styles that you will hear in the performance:
SAMBA
(Rio de Janeiro) A Brazilian dance & musical style of African origin that is typical of
Carnaval in Rio.
SAMBA AFRO
or
SAMBA
REGGAE
(Salvador, Bahia) Popular groups include Olodum - recorded with Paul Simon on
'Rhythm of the Saints'
Ijexa or
Afoxé (Salvador, Bahia) Afro-Brasilian
Ceremonial music & dance that was once prohibited to be performed in public and is
now a staple of Carnaval in Salvador over Brasil)
CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS!
Estrela Brilhante on the streets of Recife: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na9eFCiVazU&feature=rel
ated
Children from Estrela Brihante performing
a practice: http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=-1baG7ok1zg&feature
=related
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
Musical styles by
location
Coco
(Translates to Coconut) (Northeast - especially coastal regions
from Recife to Natal) African and indigenous influenced music & dance tradition that originated in northern Brasil. It is often led by the pandeiro
and a style of singing similar to rapping.
MARACATU
(Olinda, Pernambuco)
Indigenous & African influenced cultural tradition & spiritual practice
that created a rich dance & music typical of the northeast region of Brazil.
Capoeira
Music
(Originally in major port cities of Salvador, Rio & Belém)- An essential element of the Afro-Brazilian dance-fight, the music which is led by the
Berimbau, sets the speed and style of
the game.
Maculelê
(Bahia & northeast) a music & dance tradition often practiced by capoeira that uses two sticks in a dance-fight
symbolic of the resistance practiced by the enslaved sugarcane workers of
northeastern Brazil.
CAN YOU FIND…
the cities mentioned above on this map?
Design a new map of Brazil that shows the
different musical styles. How could you do this?
Rio carnaval
The roots of Carnaval trace back to the ancient Romans and Greeks who
celebrated the rites of spring. Across Europe, people annually gave thanks by
throwing parties, wearing masks and dancing in the streets. Such traditions were
carried over to the new world.
The Portuguese first brought the concept of “celebration or “Carnaval” to
Rio around 1850. The practice of holding balls and masquerade parties was
imported from the city of Paris. However, in Brasil, the traditions soon became
different. Over time, they acquired unique elements deriving from African and
Indigenous cultures.
Groups of people would parade through the streets playing music and
dancing. It was typical that during Carnaval, aristocrats would dress up as
commoners, men would dress as women and the poor dress up as princes and
princesses– social roles and class differences were expected to be forgotten once
a year, but only for the duration of the festival.
The black slaves became actively involved in the celebrations. They were
able to be free for three days. Nowadays, African American communities are still
the most involved groups in all of the Carnaval preparations and they are the ones
for whom Rio Carnaval means the most.
By the end of the 18 century, the festivities were enriched by
competitions. People would not just dress up in costumes, but also perform in a
parade accompanied by an orchestra of strings, drums and other instruments.
These organized competitions became the main attractions of the Carnaval in Rio
de Janeiro.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
QUESTION
Carnival has become a tradition for many Brazilians- What
traditions do you have at home, at school that
you feel show your culture/ heritage?
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
Until the beginning of the 20th century, street Carnaval in Rio was musically a
very euro centric affair - Polkas, Waltzes, Mazurkas and Scottish songs.
Meanwhile, the emergent working class (made up mainly of Afro Brasilians, along
with some gypsies, Russian Jews, Poles, etc.) developed their own music and
rhythm. These people were mostly based in the central part of Rio, on a land that
the rich did not want - on the hills and swamps behind the dockyards in shanty
communities commonly called the "favelas". One favela known as "Little Africa"
is now recognized as the cradle of samba. The parades were halted during World
War II and started again in 1947. By then the main competition took place
downtown on Avenida Rio Branco. Carnaval has gone a long way since it was
brought to Rio, having become one of the biggest events in the World. One of the
most important recent developments has been moving the largest Samba parade
from the streets into a specially made epic samba arena called the
"Sambodromo". See an image of it on the top of the previous page.
Rio Carnaval is a wild 4-day celebration, 40 days before Easter. It officially
starts on Saturday and finishes on Fat Tuesday with the beginning of Lent on Ash
Wednesday. It usually happens in February, the hottest month in the Southern
Hemisphere, when the Rio summer is at its peak. There are Carnaval celebrations
in virtually every corner of Brasil, the best-known ones taking place in Recife
along with the neighboring Olinda (in the North of Brasil) and Salvador. But the
biggest and most famous Carnaval is undoubtedly the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio carnaval
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
Make up your own tradition!
What kind of music or dance would be seen at the event?
Would there be costumes? Record
some music or design the costumes that you would have at
your tradition.
At the performance… You will see a Rio Samba
performed by Grupo Liberdade!
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
A little history
about Maculelê
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…
Maculelê symbolizes having to overcome a hardship or
difficult/impossible circumstances- How have you
overcome something?
Maculelê
There are a couple of different thoughts about how maculelê
began. One story is the dance was created by the slaves in the sugar cane fields, who used the stalks of sugar cane and the facaõ, the machete used to cut the sugar cane, to play maculelê. Some say maculelê is a celebration of the harvest, others suggest it had religious significance, and still others say it was danced to practice self-defense techniques to use against the slave masters.
Another legend tells of a man who stayed home with the women and children while all the other men went hunting and fishing. When an enemy tribe showed up to attack the village, the man beat off the attackers with sticks and died saving the women and children. According to legend, Maculelê became a dance in his honor. Some sources say the setting of this story is in Africa; others claim it happened among the indigenous Indian tribes in Brasil. Whatever its origin, maculelê declined after slavery ended in 1888, but the dance was revived in the early-to-mid 1900s. Today, maculelê is practiced by many capoeira groups worldwide.
Information found from website:
http://www.capoeiramaculele.co.uk/about-capoeira/maculele
Maculelê is a Brasilian dance form that incorporates drums and singing. Each dancer uses
sticks to assist with the rhythm. The dancer will hit their own
sticks together or on the ground on the first three beats, but on
the fourth beat they will hit their sticks against their
partner’s sticks.
Grupo Liberdade (Phoenix)
is a performance group dedicated to freedom of expression through culture, movement and sound. Led by Brasilian musical director Poranguí (São Paulo), Grupo Liberdade promotes community, diversity and empowerment through its music, drawing upon the traditional & contemporary rhythms of Brasil and beyond. Composed of an incredible line-up of world-class musicians, Grupo Liberdade specializes in moving people with Afro-Brasilian Batucada rhythms and songs from a wide range of styles including Samba, Samba-Reggae, Côcos, Ijexá, Maracatu and more.
www.GrupoLiberdade.com
SambAZ Dancers (Phoenix)
Comprised of some of the best dancers in the valley, led by Angelique Starks, these girls offer a visual feast and an incredible array of costumes and choreography drawing from the dance traditions across Brasil. The ensemble is comprised of eighteen beautiful and passionate dancers that engage the audience to create a breathtaking experience of Brasilian beauty, grace and culture performing to the hypnotic sounds of in-your-face Samba.
www.SambAZDancers.com
Capoeira Brasil (Phoenix)
Arizona’s premier capoeira institution for over 10 years, Capoeira Brasil Arizona prides itself in performing the style and energy found in capoeira’s historical roots. Offering a captivating physical performance of the afro-brasilian martial art & dance, Capoeira Brasil AZ performs traditional capoeira music and dances with a large ensemble of 10-20 performers. Their gravity-defying performance will leave you speechless as they push the boundary between fight & dance!
www.CapoeiraArizona.com
Grupo Liberdade
Bios
ASU Gammage Performances for Students Series
Top Related