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Joey Fong-Lamboy

Mrs. Cediel

Intermediate Dance

2 March 2015

Dance Final- Samba Timeline

1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral of Portugal discovers and claims Brazil for Portuguese colonization.

1532 first Portuguese settlement established.

Indigenous slavery had already existed before the Portuguese arrived.

Indigenous slave labor was utilized for agricultural work.

They were mobilized largely through aggressive mission network of Portuguese Jesuits.

Mid 16th century African slavery starts to become more common.

Altogether, more than 3.5 million African slaves were transported to Brazil.

1822 Brazil gains independence from Portugal.

1888 slavery abolished.

Samba- music genre & dance style, originated in Brazil but with roots in Africa.

Spread through West African slave trade & African religious traditions, particularly Angola & the Congo.

Early styles of Samba traced back to the Recôncavo region of Bahia during the 17th century.

For some time, the upper class Brazilians viewed this form of dance as being lewd and obscene, forcing the lower classes (in terms of social status) to perform the dance in private. This created a sort of underground culture.

Samba is a local style in Southeastern Brazil and Northeast Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador and Belo Horizonte.

Former slaves who migrated from Bahia to Rio brought their dance, which then came into contact with and incorporated other genres of the city, evolving it and as a result creating the samba school and Carnaval school director.

Not until 1920s that Samba became very popular.

Evolved over time from what was initially an attempt to preserve African culture to absorbing influences such as the maxixe, marcha, habanera, and polka.

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You pulled quite a bit out of the video and referenced some key aspects of the films perspective on women within the genre. You picked up the reality of past and present struggles centered on gender, sexuality, and class.

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Joey Fong-Lamboy

Ms. Cediel

Intermediate Dance

6 February 2015

Samba Dance Video

1. History of Samba and it’s African roots.

2. It initially briefly describes the history and impact of Samba, stating facts such as “Samba has its peak during Carnaval, when it boosts an economy of U$500 million and generates about 300 thousand jobs, only in Rio de Janeiro. The main point of emphasis throughout this video, however, is on the significance and role of women in Samba and its history. “The women have always been trend setters”, one woman says, “Back in the days, at the backyard, when the male composers presented their samba, if the female singers didn’t wanted to sing their music, it just did not happened.” This statement, along with what many of the other speakers say toward the end of the video, convey that the prominence of women in shaping and participating in the history and culture of Samba is just as equal as the extent of men.

3. This video is very insightful of Samba and dance in general being more than just two-dimensional-learn-the-movement. It goes to show the extensive cultural history that has culminated and served as the foundation of what the dance style currently is. What I found most fascinating about this video was that it focuses entirely on the importance women had and still have in Samba. At some points the speakers in the video elude to the struggle women have gone through and still go through to be included in the life of Samba, and despite it being a hard fought struggle, not everyone is able to see past the flamboyant costumes, vibrant colors, and exhilaratingly fast movements to understand and appreciate those struggles. Even though it is not a two hour long comprehensive documentary about the entire history of women in Samba, it still provides for myself a thought provoking glimpse into what happens culturally when a dance style is created and evolves and also the purpose of why that dance style is danced.

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Joey Fong-Lamboy

Ms. Cediel

Intermediate Dance

16 January 2015

Assignment 3- Style of Dance Revision

1. ) Style of dance- Samba

2.) Origin- Samba is a music genre and a dance style that originated in Brazil but has its roots in Africa, spreading through the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, particularly Angola and the Congo. Samba is a local style in Southeastern Brazil and Northeast Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, SãoPaulo, Salvador and Belo Horizonte. However, Rio is not the only city in Brazil to offer Carnaval festivities. The former colonial capital of Salvador, Bahia is also home to one of the most exciting and perhaps more roots-oriented carnival traditions, in particular as the state of Bahia has retained much of its African heritage as the country's center for the Afro-Brazilian religion of candomblé.

3.) Evolution- The Samba hails from ancient African beats and customs. For some time, the upper class Brazilians viewed this form of dance as being lewd and obscene, forcing the lower classes (in terms of social status) to perform the dance in private. This created a sort of underground culture. When slavery was outlawed in the late 1880’s, the Samba became more acceptable. However, it was during the 1920’s that the Samba became very popular, and evolved in terms of its styles and its more widespread acceptability. Over time samba gained important influences not only from Brazilian predecessors such as the maxixe and the marcha, but the Cuban habanera and German polka as well.

4.) Purpose/Function- Over time Samba evolved from what was initially an attempt to preserve African culture. During this period of time, the spread of religion was of most importance and for those who did not know the difference, the helpers, gods, or protectors that the African people worshiped were much like the saints of the Catholic religion. The slaves were therefore able to worship their orixas through song and practice, while others believed that they were practicing Christianity and helping the spread of religion.  Samba is the lower class Afro-Brazilian community and an expression of their culture, the morros, people of the hillside slums. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival. It is considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions and has become an icon of Brazilian national identity.

5.) Citations and Resources- http://www.sambassadorsofgroove.org.uk/history-of-samba.html;  http://www.brazil.org.za/brazil-dance.html#.VKuSMYtH0-c; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba; http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects05/ml/Samba.html

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Joey Fong-Lamboy Ms. Cediel Intermediate Dance 17 December 2014

Assignment 2- Style of Dance

1. ) Style of dance- Samba

2.) Origin- Samba is a music genre and a dance style that originated in Brazil but has its roots in Africa, spreading through the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, particularly Angola and the Congo. Samba is a local style in Southeastern Brazil and Northeast Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador and Belo Horizonte. However, Rio is not the only city in Brazil to offer Carnaval festivities. The former colonial capital of Salvador, Bahia is also home to one of the most exciting and perhaps more roots-oriented carnival traditions, in particular as the state of Bahia has retained much of its African heritage as the country's center for the Afro-Brazilian religion of candomblé. 3.) Evolution- The Samba hails from ancient African beats and customs. For some time, the upper class Brazilians viewed this form of dance as being lewd and obscene, forcing the lower classes (in terms of social status) to perform the dance in private. This created a sort of underground culture. When slavery was outlawed in the late 1880’s, the Samba became more acceptable. However, it was during the 1920’s that the Samba became very popular, and evolved in terms of its styles and its more widespread acceptability. Over time samba gained important influences not only from Brazilian predecessors such as the maxixe and the marcha, but the Cuban habanera and German polka as well.

4.) Purpose/Function- Over time Samba evolved from what was initially an attempt to preserve African culture. During this period of time, the spread of religion was of most importance and for those who did not know the difference, the helpers, gods, or protectors that the African people worshiped were much like the saints of the Catholic religion. The slaves were therefore able to worship their orixas through song and practice, while others believed that they were practicing Christianity and helping the spread of religion. Samba is the lower class Afro-Brazilian community and an expression of their culture, the morros, people of the hillside slums. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival. It is considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions and has become an icon of Brazilian national identity.

5.) Citations and Resources- http://www.sambassadorsofgroove.org.uk/history-of-samba.html; http://www.brazil.org.za/brazil-dance.html#.VKuSMYtH0-c; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba; http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects05/ml/Samba.html

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From the brief description, I feel that I am most connected/similar to Oxumaré. To me, Oxumaré's rule over the rainbow and the serpent is emblematic of the juxtaposition between the beauty and the darkness and pain one experiences throughout life. More personally, I feel like it is very applicable to me because most people are evidently oriented toward different attitudes of life, such as labels like optimistic or pessimistic, but I feel like I am equally balanced between all possible perspectives on life. I have never associated myself toward one specific aspect in any sort of subject, I feel that most of my indecissiveness comes from my ability to see, understand, and validify both aspects of a situation. Consequently, I associate this characteristic of myself to Oxumaré's perceived contradiction of ruling over the magnificent rainbow and the malevolent, deceitful serpent. Additionally, he is mysterious and also intelligent and artistic. Silence is often times misconstrued as dullness, unsociableness, and other negative traits. Confidence is associated with success and triumphant attitude in life, so when someone is introverted and mysterious, one either assumes that the person posesses no unique characteristics, intelligence, and/or any ability, or they believe that they do but they cannot discover these characteristics because of the cloak the mysterious person shrouds over themself. However, at least in my personal experience, being mysterious and introverted is not always a decision, one usually wants to be understood by others.