Roda Magazine interviews Instrutor Morcego for AfroBrazilFest
June 13, 2011Roda Magazine interviewed Instrutor Morcego from Capoeira Malês DC, and Sonia Pessoa from Sambart Entertainment to discuss AfroBrazilFest.
Read highlights from the interview below. You can read the full interview here.
What was the main inspiration for putting on a festival like this?
Instructor Morcego — CapoeiraDC has people from all over, who share a common interest in Afro-Brazilian culture, as well as African traditions, which we realized were little represented on DC’s cultural scene. DC already has festivals celebrating Latinos, the French, Asians, Italians, Greeks, and people from many other cultures, but there is no one set of events that celebrate the enormous and vibrant history of Africans in Brazil and elsewhere. So, we saw a demand and ran with it.
Sonia — Brazil has the second largest population of people of African descent in the world, second only to Nigeria. The influence of former African slaves is evident in Brazil’s mixture of rhythms, customs, arts, beliefs, and gastronomy. This festival will honor, celebrate, and explore the massive influence and resilience of the millions of African people that created a unique sense of racial expression and cultural diversity in Brazil. Afro-Brazilians have transformed their oppression into art, their cries became the haunting lyrics of a song their shackled bodies created liberating dances, their hunger and limited resources into culinary masterpieces, and the strength of their hardened hands powered the sounds of their drums.
What’s your primary goal that you’d like to accomplish for this event?
Instrutor Morcego — Again, I think that the festival fills a void that’s currently missing in DC in terms of cultural celebration and exchange. There are so many of us in this city who are of African heritage, and also tons of families with lineage and history in Brazil, and the AfroBrazilFest is designed to celebrate all of us. I’m Jamaican, and among our CapoeiraDC family we have people from Brazil, DC, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Russia, Italy, and tons of other spots on the globe. The festival’s goal is to bring us all together through our common interest and passion for Afro-Brazilian arts.
Sonia — I hope everyone can see how art can uplift individuals and communities and bring together people of different backgrounds. Brazilian art and culture comes from a mixture of Native, African, and European cultures. This blend creates something that is even more beautiful than the three cultures separately.
What’s been your most inspirational moment(s) thus far in working to create the event?
Instrutor Morcego — I think discovering the level of interest in this event has been really exciting. As soon as we put some feelers out, the number of interested participants and venues has been overwhelming. So, we’re just happy to keep the energy and momentum going. Hopefully the festival itself will be what’s ultimately most inspiring.
Sonia — For me it is the overwhelmingly positive response to the festival. We have received so many emails and calls from people around the world supporting the event. It has been amazing for me to see the interest in the African roots of Brazil.
Read the full Roda Magazine interview here.