Bale Folclorico da Bahia the only professional folk dance company in Brazil will present the United States premiere of its 20th anniversary show, "Sacred Heritage," at Spaulding Auditorium in the Hopkins Center on Tuesday. Founded in 1988 by Walson Botelho and Ninho Reis in the city of Salvador, the 38-member group travels throughout Europe and North America and has been named Brazil's best dance company three times by the nation's Ministry of Culture, according to a press release from the Hop.
"They are the North American chance to see a full range of Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian traditions and dance," programming director of the Hop Margaret Lawrence said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "The level they are performing at is really the best for any company in existence that does this type of work."
Returning to the Hop for a second time the group first performed at Dartmouth in 2005 Bale Folclorico da Bahia will showcase a wide array of authentic folkloric dances in their Tuesday performance, including the dance styles of Danca de Origem, Maculele, Samba de Roda, Capoeira and Samba-Reggae.
In addition to displaying the group's diverse repertoire of dances, the performance will include music drawn from three distinct cultural influences: African, introduced to Brazil through slavery in the 16th century; European, introduced by Portuguese colonization in the 16th century; and Indegina, the native Brazilian culture.
"I started the company and decided to have a dance group that would show the most important part of my people and my country," Botelho said in an interview with The Dartmouth. He explained that, in keeping with this goal, "Sacred Heritage" seeks to explore the various religions of the Bahia region. "Sacred Heritage" is the group's first performance that shows the African-based religious rituals of Brazil's common people, according to Botelho.
Botelho, who serves as artistic director of the company, said he tried to work this African religious tradition called candomble into the performance in order to create "a different and exotic feel that mixes well with the quicker dynamics of capoeira."
Capoeira is a martial art that originated in Africa and was brought to Brazil during the colonial period by slaves from Angola, according to the Hop press release.
"Capoeira is all over the world now," Botelho explained. "It is the Brazilian martial arts and at every place we travel we always find people who play capoeira."
According to Lawrence, almost every large city has a sizeable Brazilian community practicing capoeira.
However, Lawrence said that Dartmouth does not have a capoeira club. Members of Bale Folclorico da Bahia will lead a capoeira workshop for beginners on Monday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. in Collis Common Ground.
Although it has spread across the world, capoeira remains most widely practiced in Brazil, where it is intricately linked to local culture and important to everyday life.
"I have seen this happen to a lot of young children with capoeira," Botelho said. "They learn it on the street and then if you are brilliant, physically strong and can dance, listen and learn then you might have the opportunity to be in a professional company and tour around the world."
While they are on tour in Hanover, Botelho said he and the performers will be visiting local low-income families.
"[Botelho] is very much involved with kids in the lower socioeconomic status, especially those in Brazil because of the country's dramatically different demographics," Lawrence explained.
Botelho and the performers will also visit two classes during their stay at Dartmouth Geographies of Latin America, taught by geography professor Sharlene Mollett, and Global Sounds, taught by music professor Theodore Levin.
Levin said students in his class will be attending the Bale Folclorico da Bahia performance and writing their own reviews of it.
"It's a privilege to be able to meet the company's director beforehand and hear him speak about his artistic intent and inspiration," Levin said.
Bale Folclorico da Bahia will perform at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25 in Spaulding.
