{"id":575,"date":"2015-07-03T06:40:39","date_gmt":"2015-07-03T11:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=575"},"modified":"2019-07-29T16:37:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T21:37:41","slug":"three-differing-styles-sotaques-in-performance-orquestra-baixada-and-costa-da-mao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=575","title":{"rendered":"Four differing styles (sotaques) in performance: Orquestra, Zabumba, Baixada, and Costa-da-Mao"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Officially there are five sotaques<\/em>, or rhythmic styles, recognized in Maranhao.\u00a0 Each has a historical connection with a different region of the state.\u00a0 The regional distinctions have blurred over the decades as migrants from the interior came to Sao Luis and established groups in neighborhoods that reflected their heritage celebration.\n

\"DM4A4798_DxO\"<\/a>
India in sotaque de Orquestra. The stylized feathere costume and bow and arrow are meant to be evocative of Maranhao\u2019s indigenous people. The introduction of indias in a few feathers radically altered the role of women performers after the 1950s, ending the hegemony of males in performance (Boi Lirio)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Groups have also sprung up in sotaques<\/em> that were historically associated with another sotaque<\/em>, such as Zabumba<\/em> groups in areas of Costa-da-mao<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The names of the\u00a0sotaques<\/em> may have originated with popular usage, but this language has been adopted and codified by governmental and cultural agencies in Maranhao and the city of Sao Luis.\u00a0 Groups are identified as being of one rhythmic style or another, and the official city performance programs are based on that codification.\u00a0 So is the public funding that is given to the groups to support their public performance.<\/p>\n

One famous scholar of the Bumba-meu-boi<\/em> (Neto) has suggested that each group (there are some 400 or more in Maranhao) is its own sotaque<\/em>, or accent.\u00a0 Certainly some of the groups show a hybridization of style that incorporates elements formerly unique to a particular sotaque<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There remains a popular and official understanding of\u00a0the sotaques or \u201caccents\u201d in the culture of the celebration in Sao Luis:<\/p>\n

Matraca (or Ilha)<\/em><\/p>\n

Named for its use of the matraca as the rhythmic force, often with hundreds of participants and supports.\u00a0 It is historically associated with Sao Luis, which is an island capital \u2014 therefore the alternate name of Ilha.\u00a0 (This style is not pictured below.)<\/p>\n

Zabumba<\/em><\/p>\n

This sotaque<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0understood as the most \u201cAfrican\u201d in style.\u00a0 It uses\u00a0large standing drums (zabumbas<\/em>) as its rhythmic accent.<\/p>\n

Baixada <\/em><\/p>\n

Originally from the interior of Maranhao, the sotaque<\/em>\u00a0exists in force in the area of Viana and Matinha.\u00a0 It\u00a0also migrated to neighborhoods of Sao Luis with residents of the baixada<\/em> interior coming to the city for work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In general, while the Baixada groups in the city have evolved considerably in their performative style; the groups in the interior tend to be more modest and closer to what is considered the heritage style.<\/p>\n

Costa-da-mao<\/em><\/p>\n

The name literally means \u201cback of the hand,\u201d which is the way the signature rhythmic drums are played.\u00a0 Originally associated with the region around Cururupu, it was celebrated by\u00a0fishermen\u00a0and laborers.\u00a0 A few Costa-da-mao<\/em> roups survive, but their distinctiveness is now preserved by a diminishing number of heritage performers.<\/p>\n

Orquestra<\/em><\/p>\n

This style originated in the 1950s in the area around the river Munim (in such towns as Morros and Rosario).\u00a0 The legend is that a music school in the area provided a number of musicians skilled in \u201cEuropean\u201d instruments that were not used in other sotaques<\/em> (e.g., trumpets, banjos and other wind instruments).\u00a0 Orquestra<\/em> pioneered the introduction of lightly-clad female indias\/tapuias and\u00a0evolved into the most performative and mediatic of the sotaques.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>It is\u00a0a relative \u201cnewcomer\u201d to popular culture, having its roots in the 1950s.\u00a0\u00a0In the memory of some younger people in Maranhao (marinhenses<\/em>) it is now also a \u201ctraditional\u201d style, but some members of the older generation, especially those in the older sotaques<\/em>, are ambivalent about its heritage.<\/p>\n

Orquestra\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0instrumentation, rhythmic style, costumes, elaborate use of scantily-dressed performers and performance values have made it\u00a0the fastest-growing style in the region.\u00a0 It is thought to account for as much as 50% of the groups in Maranhao.\u00a0 The use of women performers changed the celebration and performance of the Bumba-meu-boi, <\/em>but also\u00a0raised\u00a0questions about the esthetic\/performance of women (and the inevitable comparison with the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro).<\/p>\n

\"DM4A4834_DxO\"<\/a>
India in the sotaque Orquestra<\/em> (Boi Lirio de Sao Joao<\/em>, June 2015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"DM4A4807_DxO\"<\/a>
Male Orquestra<\/em> performer known as a vaqueiro<\/em>, or cowboy.\u00a0 This character evokes the importance of cattle ranching in Maranhao, as does the boi\/ox itself (Boi Lirio de Sao Joao), June 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"DM4A4831_DxO\"<\/a>
The boi<\/em>\/ox in an Orquestra<\/em> group dances with Catirina, a slave in the original BmB story, historically played by a male performer in female clothing but now increasingly by a woman (Boi Lirio di Sao Joao<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"DM4A4804_DxO\"<\/a>
An india dancing with the ox. This moment where an india vamps the ox (he typically ends the sequence with his head in her lap) has become a staple of Orquestra performances. It doesn\u2019t have much to do with the original BmB slave narrative, and reflects the increased performativeness of the sotaque<\/em>.\u00a0 Boi Lirio de Sao Joao, Sao Luis, June 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Zabumba group: Boi Unidos Venceremos<\/em><\/p>\n

This video shows the typical\u00a0dance of the boi<\/em>\/ox with other characters\u00a0during the performance (called a brincadeira, <\/em>from brincar <\/em>meaning \u201cto play\u201d).<\/p>\n

The sound track shows the distinctive pulsing of the large drums (zabumbas<\/em>) that give this rhythmic style its name.\u00a0 There are two ox figures being danced.\u00a0 The most prominent performers are the vaqueiros<\/em>, representing cowhands in the narrative.\u00a0 The dancing indias<\/em> toward the end are, at least in this group, young women and girls.\u00a0 This is one of the groups associated with an old heritage style, and its indias<\/em> are dressed modestly compared to the newer Orquestra<\/em> groups.<\/p>\n

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