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Maculelê

Maculele

Maculelê, a mock stick fighting dance, is danced within a roda (circle) of people. The atabaque drum is played and Maculelê songs are sung. People in the roda each have a pair or wooden sticks traditionally made from biriba wood from Brazil. The sticks, called grimas, are used to hit to the beat of the drum. The two people in the roda play and dance to the rhythm. They hit their sticks together for three beats and on every fourth beat, they hit each other’s sticks held by the right hand. The dance is a part of  the tradition of Capoeira.

During performances, performers traditionally wear grass skirts and some dancers play with machetes instead of wooden sticks. This dance was developed by enslaved Afro-Brazilians cutting down sugar cane in the field.

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Margareth Menezes

Born Margareth Menezes da Purificação, on October 13, 1962, in Boa Viagem, the Peninsula region of Itapagipe in Salvador. She is an internationally known, award-winning Brazilian pop star, but her music genre is predominantly the axé, samba-reggae, and samba-funk music of Bahia. From an early age, Menezes was surrounded by music, through her family’s love for it, and in her teens she began performing in the trios elétricos in Bahia’s Carnaval. In 1985, at the age of 21, she won the Troféu Caymmi for the Best Female Performer of Bahia, and she would win it again in the 1990s along with the Troféu Imprensa. Four years later, she recorded her first solo album dedicated to Bahian grooves. Her second album, Elegibô (Uma Historia de Ifá), stayed in first place for 11 weeks on the American charts in the World Music category. It was also awarded by Billboard magazine and Rolling Stone magazine appointed the album as one of the five best in the world in the same category. Other big hits include Me Abraça e Me Beija and Kindala. She is credited and appreciated for bringing the music of Bahia to the world.

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Oxente!

“Oxente” (pronounced “oh-SHEN-chi”), or “oxe” for short (pronounced “osh”), is an exclamatory expression that has no direct translation in English and, although the meaning sometimes depends on the situation, it is  generally used to express surprise or disbelief about something like how English speakers might exclaim “what???!!!” at some news they just heard. It is a colloquialism that has become a cultural identifier of Bahia as it considered regional slang that is only used in the Northeast of Brazil. For example, a conversation using this expression might go:

Maria: Oí João, do you have my Batala CD that I loaned you a week ago?

João:   Oh no, sorry. I forgot to return it to you again. In fact, I’ve been loaning it out to all my friends who also love Batala’s music.

Maria: Oxente!!! João, I need my CD back. How do you expect me to survive another day without grooving to my Batala tunes?!?! Oxe! (sucks teeth and rolls eyes at João in utter annoyance and disbelief)

Now that you’re ready to falar baianês (speak Bahian slang), let us know in the comments below how you would use the word Oxente.

Check out another use of Oxente in this song by Bahian singer Jauperi.

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Afoxé and Afro-Blocos

Blocos-Afro and Afoxé groups are community organizations that reinforce pride in African heritage and culture through music and dance. Started in Salvador, the blocos also have a social and political mission focused on the upliftment of the Afro-Brazilian community.

Olodum, Ilê Aiyê, Muzenza, Malê de Balê, Filhos de Gandhy, Ara Ketu, Cortejo Afro, Timbalada, and Didá (pictured below) are among the most popular groups that have survived since the late 70s and early 80s. While the afoxés are not political, the blocos are due to their concerns with resistência cultural (cultural resistance) issues such racism in education, employment, etc. Yet at the same time, the many blocos aim to reach an international audience through its music to bring awareness of the culture and plight of Black Brazilians.