Samba de Gafieira explicado para os gringos

Imagine o Rio de Janeiro no final do século XIX. Uma reserva reprimida de inteligência cultural se concentrava na carne dos negros recém-libertos da instituição escravista, e pelos discursos do corpo dialogavam com a razão metropolitana dos europeus. A energia estilhaçada do intervalo sonoro do sotaque africano se expandia colonizando a música e a dança europeia.  No lundu, no jongo, na capoeira, a alma da África mantinha sua dignidade de expressão, injetando o veneno da síncope para sempre na veia melódica da música conhecida. A autoridade do europeu continuou presente no estilo: a armação do corpo era a regra nas danças de salão. O Brasil popular, das classes mais baixas, adaptou essa ilusão de elegância conforme elas faziam parte dos seus sonhos. A valsa e a polca representavam prosperidade e riqueza. Mas a sua consciência mesclada e imperceptivelmente conquistada já não permitia ignorar a sensualidade potencial adquirida pelos seus ouvidos indefesos. Os movimentos talvez mais geniais criados em terreno brasileiro envolveram sempre um jogo de cintura incompreensível para o europeu. Inspirados pelas umbigadas do Jongo, o quadril masculino bombeava a mulher pela frente ou por trás, algumas vezes com rotações e sinuosidades que acompanhavam o movimento ondulatório da música. O Maxixe foi primeiramente classificado como a “dança proibida”, para deixar clara a reprovação das classes que mantinham o monopólio da interpretação estética. Os primeiros a contribuir com rebeldia para a independência da expressão corporal brasileira, portanto, foram os dançarinos do Maxixe, parente do samba. E o seu terreiro eram salões situados em sobrados entre o centro, o barro da Lapa e Botafogo. Esses salões eram chamados de gafieira. Conta a mitologia que o termo vem de “gafe”. Gafieiras eram os lugares onde se cometiam “gafes”, erros de etiqueta ou falta de atenção à convenção. Um cronista famoso ajudou a consolidar o título em uma edição do jornal. Como o critério para as gafes vinham justamente de convenções incapazes de entender a nova linguagem que ali se construía, o nome é m tributo. É uma homenagem que se chame a maior expressão da fidelidade corporal à música brasileira de “samba de gafieira”. E assim de fato é chamado, com muito orgulho. O desenvolvimento dessa dança seguiu os passos correlatos ao desenvolvimento da própria música: o tango argentino sempre esteve entre o elenco de influencias da música brasileira, e o refinamento técnico do samba de gafieira teve de passar orgânica e necessariamente por uma fase de influencias fortes do Tango. A personalidade, contudo, se manteve presa à matriz sincopada emprestada da África. A ginga, o molejo, o jogo de cintura e os estilhaços do jogo de pé, compõem a alma do comportamento corporal, e da sensação que a dança procura. A alegria e a tristeza do povo que frequentou as gafieiras do Rio no início do século XX e fim do XIX fecundou o quadro de movimentos, fosse por imitação uns dos outros, fosse por competição. As gafieiras continuaram fecundas por muitas décadas. Hoje a tecnicalidade do samba de gafieira chegou a um nível que exclui as expressões mais diletantes de amadorismo. Temos como resultado uma expansao cultural madura e autônoma, que cresceu em exposição constante às tendências da música, adquirindo mais tarde uma dosagem de influência do morro, das favelas, da paixão pelo futebol, e chegando enfim a uma estrutura refinada de condução e movimentação. Os dançarinos de ballroom samba internacional dancam hoje a uma versão muito antiga do Maxixe, cujo nome mudou mais tarde para samba por puras razoes monetárias. Mesmo os movimentos que permanecem os mesmos, no entanto, foram adulterados até adquirir uma estrutura mais europeia, emprestada de estereótipos latinos, no mais das vezes caribenhos, que ultrajam a memoria da cultura e da musica brasileira. O international ballroom samba não apenas não é samba, como também não é mais Maxixe, mas sim uma mera sombra de traços acidentais copiada a um modelo latino de felicidade e alegria sem fim, que seduz europeus velhos e jovens ingênuos. Arvorados sobre ideais técnicos antigos e tradições clássicas, a federação internacional continua tentando falar por uma realidade cultural que não lhes toca. Ao se referir ao samba, se referem ao “samba brasileiro” como se esse fosse a exceção, mero rebolado erótico e 'exotismo' sem relevância. E se dão o direito de sentir-se indignados e ultrajados se alguém os contesta e pede explicações. O mais escandaloso e a sua consciencia tranquila: acreditam estar quietos, e olham os brasileiros como os que procuram o conflito ... como se não fosse um ultraje e um desrespeito se dar o direito de falar pelo corpo e inteligência de uma cultura da qual eles não entendem: nada. 

"Samba de Gafieira" explained to International Ballroom Dancers

Imagine Rio de Janeiro in the late nineteenth century. A repressed cultural intelligence reserve is concentrated in the flesh of the newly freed from slavery institution, and the discourse of their body dialogued with the Metropolitan reason of Europeans. The audible range of energy of African accent expanded colonizing European music and dance. In Lundu, in jongo in capoeira, the soul of Africa maintained its dignity of expression, injecting the poison of syncope  for good into the melodic vein of the known Music. The authority of Europe continued in the documents of style: the frame of the body was the rule in ballroom dancing. Popular Brazil, the lower classes, adapted this illusion of elegance as they were part of their dreams. Waltz and polka represented prosperity and wealth. But their mixed consciousness no longer let them ignore the potential sensuality acquired by their defenseless ears. Perhaps the most brilliant movements created in Brazilian land have always involved a game of waist incomprehensible to Europe. Inspired by the “umbigadas” from Jongo, the male hips pumped the woman from ahead or from behind, sometimes with rotations and windings that accompanied the swell of the musical movement. Maxixe was first classified as a "forbidden dance" to make clear the disapproval of the classes that held the monopoly of aesthetic interpretation. The first rebellion to contribute to the independence of the Brazilian body language, was made by Maxixe dancers. And the halls where they use to dance were located in the second floor of center old houses, along Lapa and Botafogo. These halls were called “Gafieiras”. According to the regular mythology that word comes from the term "gaffe" (from French). Gafieiras were the places where people committed "gaffes", errors of etiquette or lack of attention to the conventional rules. A famous chronicler helped to solidify this title in an edition of the newspaper. As the criterion for the gaffes came precisely from Conventions that were unable to understand the new language that was being built, then we can say that the name is a tribute. It is a honor that the greatest expression of body loyalty to Brazilian music is called "samba de gafieira". And so in fact it is called, with great pride. The development of this dance followed the related development steps of the music itself: the Argentine tango has always been among the cast of influences of Brazilian music, and the technical refinement of samba de gafieira had to go organic and necessarily through a phase of strong influences from Tango (international dancers could never understand this, because they think in Brazilian music as a stereotype of carnival). The personality, however, remained attached to the syncopated matrix borrowed from Africa. Ginga, molejo, the flexibility of the belt line, make up the soul of its bodily behavior, and belongs to the sensation sought by the dance. The joy and sorrow of the people who attended the dance halls of Rio in the early twentieth century and the late nineteenth fertilized the box of movements, whether in imitation of each other, whether by competition. The gafieiras continued fruitful for many decades. Today the technicality of samba gafieira reached a level that excludes expressions of amateurism. Many gaffes remains, however, in steps as ‘baratinha’ and ‘vassourinha’. If we wish, however, we can say that the spirit of gaffes remained in the center of the dance, alive specially in the space created in the dance to explore the footwork of both the follower as the leader. As a result we have a mature and autonomous cultural expression, which grew by constant exposure to the trends of music and samba art in general, later acquiring a dosage of influence of the hills (os morros), the slums, the passion for football, and finally coming to a refined structure of leading. Big congress in Rio de Janeiro shows, today, how samba de gafieira is present in the dance studies and enlightenment of Brazilian dancers, and how far they had gone in the development of this language of exploring samba music. Sometimes it seems like their second nature. Video below can help me: 

International ballroom samba dancers dance today to a very old version of Maxixe, whose name later changed to samba for pure monetary reasons. Even the movements that remain the same, however, have been tampered with to acquire a more European structure, mixed with Latin stereotypes, and danced to Caribbean music, which insults the memory of the Brazilian culture and music. The international ballroom samba not only is not samba, as it is not Maxixe anymore. It is nothing but a mere shadow of random features copied to a Latin model of happiness and joy without end, who seduces naive Europeans – and it has a market. Flown by old technical ideas and classical traditions, the international federation still tries to speak for a cultural reality that does not touch them. When referring to real samba, they maliciously refers to the "Brazilian samba" as if this is the exception, a mere erotic and exotic hump without relevance, while the ballroom samba would be the rule. And they give themselves the right to feel indignant and outraged if someone challenges them and ask for explanations. Brazilians are seen as boring primitive creatures preventing them from exercising their pure artistic tampering, as if it were not outrageous and disrespectful to speak for the body and intelligence of a culture of which they understand: nothing.

The international ballroom Latin-american misrepresentation: thinking about a political perspective

Its already a paradigm of the common sense in a lot of other fields of study: when you want to understand other cultures, you should listen to them, and not to just make your own rules. Cultures are the result of a legacy of experience. So, its to that experience that we should recur when we want to understand them. The collective scream of academia against the arrogance of logocentric and imperialist cultures happened in gender studies, African studies, translation studies in general and a lot others. Its time for us to speak for own body, say the women. Its time for us to tell our own history, say the black. In this intellectual context, the presence of a world dance federation that explicitly feels pressed and harassed every time someone ask for them to justify their free adoption and gratuitous adulteration of latin-american cultures, should be a call for scandal. We are not used to go political about dance. But the fact that same federation and its members do not feel quite willing to study and listen to these cultures should sound the alarm for a persistent type of colonialism. The deep roots of this attempt of colonization becomes vivid when they abandon their mere indifference and adopt the more forward maneuver of putting themselves above all discussion, for the simple fact that they feel like the owners of the dance fundamentals. Some of them have the audacity to say that the original afro-latin-american dances are "ugly". Obviously, they do not even know what they mean by that, and to say that something is ugly do not make anything clear, except the fact that they have a entrenched prejudice, and are blind to other forms of art expression, even thought these are the kind of art expression they should listen the most. Of course we should not ignore the great degree of scare and insecurity behind this approach of negligence and pretentious independence. We can almost render solidarity to their fear, when they have to find courage and energy to build their whole structure of art out of an emptiness,  without any recognition from the original cultures. We could almost understand their aggressiveness and despite when we think about how difficult must be to fight against the marvelously flexibility and untidiness of the body expression of an Afro-american children. They are cornered by a very compelled case against them. But if you ask whether that`s enough reason for them to simply try to turn the table, and arrogantly say "oh, no, these children can`t dance, we are the real technical dancers", so, well, i would say that they are to blame for this conflict. And nobody but them are the ones invasive and bellicose. The fact that Brazilians counter them with intolerance should not be a surprise. That`s exactly what they should expect after getting the name of part of the most familiar culture to every Brazilian and using it to baptize something radically distant from it. Even the most pacific and cool Brazilian would expect further explanations. That`s not along the things someone simply do freely, otherwise everyone could open break dance schools around the world, while teaching tap dance instead.

 Actually, nothing could be more convincing than the innocent and spontaneous laugh from a carioca children when they see a gringo international ballroom dancer and their "samba" essay. No matter how graduate he was, this dancer would feel lonely and helpless like an anthropologist scholar facing the real culture, when he is not able to appeal to the numb comfort of their textbooks, or run to the settled approval of their own teachers and judges. But this laugh has no discursive power, and it would fall under the vacuum of the history margin. International ballroom will continue to spread their version of dance with misleading nomenclature. The result is the impoverishment of the values that they once admired in the first place. Its hard to understand why, but the same prior passionate european filled with desire to learn the ginga and the heat spirit of Brazil and Caribbean, turn into dogmatic colonizers, all defensive, defending their right to shit their own rules over other cultures, and resisting against the simple call for them to start listening and learn. Real study is something that demands to get out of your comfort zone. In the case of latin-american dances, there is a whole universe of expression to be discovered. The suggestion that international dancers would have any technical advantage due to their ballet influences and tradition is at the minimum naive, and the worst case scenario, a blow of pure prejudice. Its also a misunderstanding of what "technique" means: the technicality should reflect the spirit and personality of the dance, and not the other way around. Latin-american dances are not only independent sources of techniques, but also sources of techniques that  have matured alongside with decades of exposure to the music, the feeling, the spirit and the personality that created the singular beat and swing approach of each dance - samba, rumba, tango, etc. To try to impose ballet structures to read this mature and independent traditions is ridiculous, to use the best word to described it. To invoke ballet or waltz as the great advantages of international ballroom dancers to dance Latin is the same as to invoke classical musical education as a edge to play jazz. It could be a contribution, but never an edge. 

In this blog i will reinforce the necessity to think about this dance colonization as a political outrageous, something that would not be tolerate in music, literature, but, for some reason, it is still common in dance. One of my aims is to educate about the technical richness of Brazilian dances, recovering our confidence to speak for ourselves and for our own culture. This way i can contribute to the latin-american dance studies that still do not exist, but that is necessary to set us free from the discursive imperialism of the international community.