POR AÍ

From the masters

Angolan Mestre Benedito taught Mestre Pastinha who taught Mestre João Grande who taught Mestre Moraes who taught a new generation of masters including Neco, Zé Carlo, Cobra Mansa e Braga. This same tradition which gave birth to Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho has now brought to light Capoeira Angola from Salvador, Brazil, a 39-track CD containing the best that Baiano (from Bahia) group has to offer. Accompanied by a comprehensive 40-page bilingual booklet the album has the blessing and the sponsorship of the Organization of the American States and the Smithsonian Institute which released the disc through its Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings. As Daniel Dawson explains on the liner notes: "The importance of music in capoeira cannot be overstated. It creates the atmosphere in which this art form is most beautifully expressed."

Summer follies

For the 12th year in a row San Francisco will become a little piece of Rio and Salvador when hundreds of Brazilians and Carnaval lovers take to the streets in several blocos with names like Ginga Brasil and Batu Pitu. This year the San Francisco Street Carnaval, considered the US's biggest celebration of its kind outside New Orleans, will happen May 26, a Sunday. Batu Pitu alone, which was last year's champion, will have three floats and around 200 merrymakers. Their risqué samba-enredo (samba-plot) is called Vice-Versa and plays with San Francisco's legendary laissez-faire attitude in sexual matters. Cristina Ribeiro, the singer who invented the marareggae (maracatu + reggae), has just come back from Brazil to be one of the party's shiniest stars.

Art unveiled

The Brazilian participation at the recent Artexpo New York '96 was so gratifying and successful that the works are being prepared to tour several US cities. Brazil had never before had its own Pavilion at the world's largest art marketplace. Its debut, however, was first class, presenting an exhibit entitled "A Century of Art in Brazil," which had previously been presented in São Paulo. Close do 60 artists from several Brazilian states participated in the show. Thanks to the Brazilian presence at the Artexpo, American art dealers have already scheduled trips to Rio where they will meet other artists and visit art galleries.