Show Brazil heats up end of Shoreline series

  • <br>Enterprise staff
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 11:37am

Enterprise staff

Hot Brazilian sounds will heat up the summer night when Show Brazil! takes the stage Aug. 23 for an evening of music and dance at Richmond Beach Community Park in Shoreline.

Show Brazil! consists of dancers, percussionists and instrumentalists all in full costume. Show Brazil! opens a typical performance with the percussion rhythms of Ijexá, Afro-Brazilian rhythms brought to Brazil by African slaves in the 16th Century. The music then moves into Baião, combining lively rhythms and heartfelt lyrics from the people of the Sertão (a desert region of Northeastern Brazil). Next comes Maculelê, a tradition originating from an ancient Afro-Brazilian war dance. The rhythms and songs of Maculelê reflect the invincible spirit and imagination of slaves working the sugar-cane fields in Brazil. Following Maculelê is Capoeira music. This form of music comes from a Brazilian martial art developed by 17th century escaped African slaves. Capoeira movements are known for their acrobatic leaps and fierce playfulness. Succeeding Capoeira are the electrifying rhythms of Samba and Galope. The music of Samba-Reggae (the heart and soul of Afro-Brazilian popular music) concludes the show. Originating in Salvador, Samba-Reggae has become popular the world over.

Featured musical instruments include the Berimbau (a tall, bowed instrument with a gourd ), and a full array of drums and other percussion instruments (Surdo, Repinique, Cuíca, Triângulo, Pandeiro, Tamborim and Agogô). The show is a colorful journey through the sights and sounds of Brazil.

Band leader and director Eduardo Mendonca is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has performed for Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela and Brazilian president Joao Baptista Fiqueiredo, and was featured in a Paul Simon documentary in 1991.

All concerts happen rain or shine. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and a picnic dinner.

This is the final concert of the season for the Shoreline/LFP Arts Council’s Concerts in the Parks series. Concerts in the Parks are presented by the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council with partial support from the City of Shoreline, City of Lake Forest Park, 4Culture Lodging Tax, and WSAC.

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