We are proud to have presented our first Brazilian Festa Junina festival at Black Cat in Washington, DC, on June 13! EducArte brought together important Brazilian-run nonprofits and community partners and Brazilian audiences from the DMV to enjoy typical dances (quadrilha and forró), traditional foods, and one of the most important forró bands from Brazil, Forróçacana. The whole event was produced by, performed by, and enjoyed by Brazilians!
Festa Junina (also known as São João) is the second largest festival in Brazil, after Carnival. Originating from harvest festivals, this tradition derives from the Northeast of Brazil and celebrates the country roots of that region. For Brazilians living abroad and people of Brazilian heritage, this is a critical means of maintaining identity and culture. And for non-Brazilian fans of the music and dance, this was a special treat because we rarely see professional forró bands, much less from Brazil, presented in the DC region. Forróçacana was an important band of the forró universitário movement, which rejuvenated the genre in the 1990s and 2000s.
Just as important as the main act was each of the participants who came to the show and shared the event with friends. We were elated to have partnered with and uplifted local Brazilian-founded and -run nonprofits: Grupo Mulheres do Brasil Núcleo Washington, DC, the Personal Care Foundation, Grupo de Mães Brasileiras da Virgínia, and the Brazilian- and Black-owned business Prime Brazil Food.
We also featured all Brazilian performers, including DJ Grace, who opened the show, as well as our quadrilha (social dance) callers, Paulinho DJ Silva, Elis Rosa, and Ilheuma Zezeh. The quadrilha was the high point of the festival. You could feel the energy in the room as people danced, laughed, and responded to the callers.
This was our first time presenting our programming at Black Cat DC. It was the perfect location and the staff/crew were wonderful to work with. We are looking forward to our presentation of Gilsons at Black Cat next month on July 12!