UNESCO: Representative List (2008)
URL:
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/...
Description: The Samba de Roda, which involves music, dance and poetry, is a
popular festive event that developed in the State of Bahia, in the region of
Recôncavo during the seventeenth century. It drew heavily on the dances and
cultural traditions of the regions African slaves. The performance also included
elements of Portuguese culture, such as language, poetry, and certain musical
instruments. At first a major component of regional popular culture among
Brazilians of African descent, the Samba de Roda was eventually taken by
migrants to Rio de Janeiro, where it influenced the evolution of the urban samba
that became a symbol of Brazilian national identity in the twentieth century.
The dance is performed on various occasions, such as popular Catholic
festivities or Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies, but is also executed in more
spontaneous settings. All present, including beginners, are invited to join the
dance and learn through observation and imitation. One of the defining
characteristics of the Samba of Roda is the gathering of participants in a
circle, referred to as roda. It is generally performed only by women, each one
taking her turn in the center of the ring surrounded by others dancing in the
circle while clapping their hands and singing. The choreography is often
improvised and based on the movements of the feet, legs and hips. One of the
most typical movements is the famous belly push, the umbigada, a testimony of
Bantu influence, used by the dancer to invite her successor into the centre of
the circle. The Samba de Roda is also distinguished by specific dance steps like
the miudinho, the use of the viola machete - a small lute with plucked strings
from Portugal, as well as scraped instruments, and responsorial songs.
The influence of mass media and competition from contemporary popular music have
contributed to undervaluing this Samba in the eyes of the young. The ageing of
practitioners and the dwindling number of artisans capable of making some of the
instruments pose a further threat to the transmission of the tradition.
Country(ies): Brazil
