On Feb. 13, energy filled the gym as students danced together to the lively music to celebrate Brazilian Carnaval. The assembly showcased different celebrations that happen through Carnaval, which celebrates cultural and community traditions through parades, music, dancing, and costumes. It allows artistic expression and community bonding for everyone.
There was singing, instrument-playing and dancing. A band played samba songs with different rhythms throughout the whole assembly keeping the festive vibes going.
Two different types of dances were performed by guest dancers called capoeira and samba. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Samba is a ballroom style dance that is characterized by simple forward and backward steps, tilting, and rocking body movements. Together, these dances both expressed ways people celebrate carnaval in Brazil.
“I’m really excited to see how everyone responds to our culture, maybe like the food that we eat and if they like how it is. I am excited about some activities that we could do. There’s some dances that people can do like Samba, which is traditional in Brazil and I hope people will have fun,” said Sofia Queen Nahar Aragao (8).
People were excited to hear about the assembly, and how people would respond to a different culture. It was exciting for people to learn about Brazilian culture through a specific celebration and people were able to learn more about the culture in general. It was nice to see a celebration outside of their hometown and see that their culture is being appreciated by others. The opening of the assembly was a Samba band playing a couple songs to begin the celebration.
“I really enjoyed it because it reminded me of my hometown in Brazil. And I thought it was really interesting and fun that they decided to include it this year. And I would honestly really like it again if they did it the following years. It’s just a really fun experience to go through,” said Duda Rodrigues (7).
As the audience grew louder three samba dancers came out and danced different ballroom steps to the songs the band was playing. They had very festive, large, colorful and sparkly costumes that made them look like the Brazilian bird Spix’s macaw. The main part of their costume was a sparkly set of wings that made them look like the macaw. After a couple dances, students volunteered to go do traditional dances with them. They followed in the steps of the dancers and enjoyed the fun dances.
“ I liked it because the loud music and everyone cheering was fun . There was a lot of energy and dancing with the guy was really fun because I had never done dance-fighting before.”
Around the end of the assembly, after the dancers finished performing, there were two guys that came out and did acrobatic stunts which shocked the audience and spiked the cheering. They were dance fighting which is a Brazilian style of dancing called Capoeira. They performed for a little before calling students to the floor to dance with them and show them how to do the different steps making the assembly inclusive to all.
Many Brazilian students were very pleased with the assembly as they said it showed a big part of them and they were happy that their peers were learning more about their culture. It was also good to see people of Brazilian culture doing the dances.
