BRAZILIAN HEART
MAY 2010
SINCE 1998

My cousin sent me a picture of my dad’s girlfriend the other day.
Toninho (little Anthony) is 75 years old and calls his girlfriend “my
new love.” This is the first time I hear him use these sweet words
since my mom passed away in 1984.
Life is good! (It always was!)

This is for you dad:
 “To have a New Year
Which deserves that name
You, my friend, have to deserve it,
You have to make it new, I know that it's not easy,
But try, experiment, be conscious.
It's inside of you that the New Year
Has always been dormant and waiting.”
(Excerpt from a poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade)

SHOWS:
Katia Moraes & Brazilian Hearts
May 1st at 9pm @ Nyx Club (Glendale, CA)
With Hussain Jifry on bass, Mitchell Long on guitar and Tony Shogren
on drums plus special guests!
RSVP: (818) 545 0333
http://clubnyx.com/index.html -
"(...) She never fails to entertain."
( Brick Wahl / LA Weekly)

Photo by Spencer Hill.

Fundraising Party for Viver Brasil Dance Company!
May 8 at 7:30pm @ Tropico de Nopal Art Gallery
1665 Beverly Blvd., LA, CA 90026
Honoring Luiz Badaró (Artistic Director), Tom Schnabel (KCRW) and
Rosangela Silvestre (choreographer)
Performances by Viver Brasil, Samba Society and Swing Brasil. Info:
(323) 804-1466 Tickets: $25
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=SUPSOKAICOEWJDWOYJNL&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6
www.viverbrasil.com

A Night of Brazilian Choro and Samba
With Katia Moraes & Ted Falcon
Saturday, May 15 @ The Edye
1310 11th st., Santa Monica, CA 90401
BOX OFFICE INFO: 310.434.3200
Featuring Ted Falcon on bandolim, Mitchell Long on cavaquinho, Ami
Molinelli on percussion, Colin Walker on 7-string guitar and Katia
Moraes on lead vocals
Special guest Rebecca Kleinman on flute
http://www.thebroadstage.org/index.php/259 -

Choro Night also on Sunday, May 16 at 8pm @ Soho (Santa Barbara)
Opening Act: Rebecca Kleinman

http://www.sohosb.com/

Saturday, May 22nd at 8:00pm
Katia Moraes & Brazilian Hearts
@ Bellavino (Westlake Village, CA)
http://www.bellavinowinebar.com/calendar.aspx?ShowDate=5%2f1%2f2010

Sunday, May 23 at 11am to 1pm
Katia Moraes & Pure Samba
@ at Westminister School
Benefit for Venice Family clinic during The Venice Art Walk
Featuring: Mitchell Long on guitar, Antonio Santanna on bass and Leo
Costa on drums
http://www.venicefamilyclinic.org/index.php?view=art_walk_auction

Samba Society
Sunday, May 23 at 4pm
@ Tropico de Nopal Art Gallery
http://www.tropicodenopal.com/home/home.html

VIDEO (MPB4 singing “Lamento” by Pixinguinha and Vinícius de Moraes in 1977)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azLE4zeJFyg&feature=related

HISTORY OF BRAZILIAN LITERATURE:
JOSE DE ALENCAR (May 1829- 1877)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_de_Alencar
O GUARANI (which means Great People) was his most successful book and
became an opera in 1870 by Brazilian conductor Carlos Gomes.  “A
plausible explanation for this success might be in the fact that novel
spoke of freedom and independence, arguing for a native ness that
could be found in tropical Nature and in the indigenous people of
Brazil.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guarani

BRAZILIAN MOVIES:
O AMOR NATURAL
The movie is based on a book of sexy poems by one of greatest
Brazilian poets Carlos Drummond de Andrade. The book was released in
1992 after Drummond had passed away.
http://www.heddy-honigmann.nl/hhonigmann/films/o_amor_natural/index.php

O GUARANI
Directed by Norma Benguel. The movie is about the Brazilian writer
José de Alencar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_i8z4yaNu8


AROUND LOS ANGELES
BRAZILIAN CLASSES (PANDEIRO, PAGODE AND SAMBA)
May 7th and May 8th    (Culver City, CA)
For details call Ana Laidley (424) 227-1483

MUAMBA & SAMBAJAH
Wednesday, May 19th @ Zanzibar (Santa Monica, CA)
http://carlamusic.com

FOR YOU
www.braziliansleepingpill.blogspot.com

Peace and kiss,
Katia : )

BRAZILIAN HEART
April 2010
Since 1998

This picture was taken at the old Temple Bar in Santa Monica when I first celebrated my Brazilian Heart Newsletter. This year the celebration will be at Casa Arjona. Javier and Gloria Arjona had been
throwing home concerts for quite sometime now. They are both teachers, and understand the power of sharing art with people. I’ll be at their intimate and outdoor place singing and telling stories about Brazilian culture this month. Come and join us. You’ll feel like you’re on my living room!

Shows:
Saturday, April 10 at 9pm @ Nyx Club (NEW PLACE IN LA!)
156 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale 91205
Reservations: (818) 545-0333
http://clubnyx.com/index.html
With Mitchell Long, Tony Shogren and Special Guests
"On Saturday the exquisite Kátia Moraes will do a mix of storytelling (she is a wonderful short story writer) and Brazilian singing with a band at a new French place called Nyx (156 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale 818/545-0333). She never fails to entertain." (Brick Wahl for LA Weekly)

Saturday, April 17 at 7pm @ Casa Arjona
4515 E. Harvey Way, Long Beach, CA 90808
RSVP: arjona@usca.edu  OR  (562) 421-8605
Featuring Mitchell Long on guitar and Cristiano Novelli on percussion
(the picture below was taken at World Music Fest in Chico, CA)
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=DHNBRTRXAIYKUXGOMOSY&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Monday, April 26 at 8pm @ Hotel Angeleno
Sunset and 405 fwy (Brentwood, CA)
Featuring Ryan Cross on bass, Lorca Hart on drums and Bill Brendle on
piano plus special guests. Free

AROUND LOS ANGELES
Caetano Veloso LIVE!
April 15 at 7:30pm @ Greek Theatre
www.braziliannites.com

BRAZILIAN MUSIC HISTORY (CHORO)
Benedito Lacerda (1903-1958) and Pixinguinha are key names in the development of Choro music in Brasil. I used to sing a song called “Lapa” (B Lacerda/H. Martins) with a choir called Coro Cabeludo when Circo Voador moved from Arpoador to the Arcos da Lapa (an old acqueduct built in 1745 in downtown Rio). Here’s Pixinguinha playing Carinhoso (1917) with Benedito Lacerda on
flute plus Regional Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyU1wEkyf28
This is also precious. Benedito Lacerda’s waltz “Boneca” played during summertime… Enjoy the vibe!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxZZ2cEZsvQ

TOUR OF LAPA IN RIO DE JANEIRO!
http://www.ipanema.com/pictours/lapa.htm

REMINISCING
My friend and events producer Denise Prado from São Paulo sent me this link to a video of my old band in Brasil called O Espírito da Coisa. We were taping for a TV Globo program called Mixto Quente. Since it was in the middle of summer, the band decided to perform wearing bathing suits. Great decision! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ypP7oG3UU

3RD ANNUAL LOS ANGELES BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 6:00pm through Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 9:00pm
@ Landmark Theatre in West Los Angeles

PURE BRAZILIAN POETRY
Chico Buarque explaining his composition called Future Lover, plus its video with beautiful scenes of Rio! God bless me with the same inspiration! Enjoy : )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59P64-TtOKY

FOR YOU
Watching Gilberto Gil at the Royce Hall reminded me of places I’ve been in my life. Not physical places, but places where the senses took me by the hand and guided me to beautiful insights and taught me lessons. The show was priceless for some, remarkable to others, and it was heavenly to me. Gil, with his silver hair had Nobility written on his forehead. I was honored and blessed to be there.
Jacques Morelembaum who was playing cello with him sent Patricia Leão a message saying their production work in LA was the best in the United States. Great job, Pat and Beto from Brazilian Nites
Productions! Enjoy the video with Gil singing Bob Marley’s song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHZNWRs516k

Peace and Love,
Katia : )
www.katiabrazil.blogspot.com

BRAZILIAN HEART @ NEW JAZZ SPOT!

Brazilian Style Spring Celebration

Katia Moraes & Trio
Featuring Mitchell Long on guitar

Hussain Jiffry on bass

Tony Shogren on drums

Saturday, March 27 

From 10pm to 1am

@ Club Nyx 

156 S Brand Blvd.   Glendale, CA 91205,
Reservations: 818 545 0333
http://www.clubnyx.com/index.html

BRAZILIAN HEART

BRAZILIAN HEART
MARCH 2010
SINCE 1998

Once in awhile I hear songs that bring me back memories of my childhood. That’s exactly what happened when my friend and musicologist Beto Gonzalez introduced me to Samba Society’s repertoire. Among the songs there is “Casinha da Marambaia” (Marambaia’s Little House) that I’ll be singing at Shoenberg Hall in UCLA on march 6th. The song was composed by Henricão and Rubens Campo, both from Rio de Janeiro, and was recorded by almost every major singer in Brasil.

Marambaia is a thin peninsula coming off the southwest end of the Rio de Janeiro area and is a property of the Brazilian Navy. Yes, this means Restinga da Marambaia is one of the rare places in Rio where Nature is still untouched.

Here’s a link to a video of Henricão singing Marambaia at a TV Program in 1973.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDuDp-N0TMM&feature=related

SAMBAGURU’S NEW ADDED CONCERT DATES & NEWS:
Grass Valley World Fest July 15 & 16
San Rafael July 17
Sambaguru's song TRIBO GANDHISTA will soon to be released on a compilation called  "Diaspora 4 Africa Vol. 3” in Germany and many other European countries.
www.sambaguru.com

SHOWS & More:
Spring workshop: SAMBA AND BEYOND: BRAZILIAN HEART DANCE, Age 15-Adult Introduction to Brazilian Culture through movement. Learn the essential steps used in Carnival and more! Bring water and a towel. Wednesdays from 6:00-7:30pm 3/24-5/19@ Borchard Community Center (Newbury Park, CA)


Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 8pm
Special guest with Samba Society
@ Schoenberg Hall, 1100 Schoenberg Music Building
 A Night of Brazilian and Arab Music
http://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/events/showevent.asp?eventid=7862
Samba Society is primarily dedicated to the partido alto and samba de terreiro popularized by Rio’s “Old Guard” of urban samba. The group’s repertoire features renditions of vintage sambas reminiscent of classic recordings from the 1970s.
www.katiamoraes.com

AROUND LOS ANGELES
Muamba @ Zanzibar (1301 5th St. at Arizona, Santa Monica, CA)
Sunday, March 7  (also featuring Andre Belle and Kandace Lindsey)

Gilberto Gil: The String Quartet @ Royce Hall (UCLA)
Featuring Jacques Morelembaum and Bem Gil
Saturday, March 20 (I’ll be there!!)
http://www.braziliannites.com/

TED X Conejo
@ Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza from 8am to 4:30pm
TED is one of the most exciting sites in the Internet. I was very happy when I found out I could watch some of its lectures for free during my flight to Houston with Virgin America this past February.
Check this link and found out what I’m talking about.
http://www.tedxconejo.com/www.tedxconejo.com/Welcome.html

FOR YOU
One of my favorite singers from Brasil singing “Coisa da Antiga”: Clara Nunes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvUzPiQkKXw

“Disse afinal que o que é de verdade ninguém mais hoje liga, Isso é coisa da antiga…”
(At the end she said that nobody cares about what’s true these days, they call truth ‘a thing of the past’)
Quote from “Coisa da Antiga” by Wilson Moreira and Nei Lopes

Have a beautiful Primavera (Spring)!
Peace
Katia : )
P.S. : www.braziliansleepingpill.blogspot.com
(a story before going to bed?)

Photo: Myself at 15 with Luciane and Marquinhos on bandolim.

SAMBAGURU BACK FROM APAP & MUCH MORE!

Booking: Cadence Arts Network, Inc.

310.838.0849, rachel@cadencearts.com

www.cadencearts.com 

SAMBAGURU at SOB'S (Sounds of Brazil in NY) dressing room. From left: Kevin Ricard, Bill Brendle, Hussain Jiffry, Pepito Gomez (our guest from Cuba), me, Mitchell Long, our friend JP singing on the back, Tony Shogren, and our new friend Alex.

We had the honor of having the presence of actress and activist Ruby Dee, Ms. Shabazz  & family (Malcolm X's daughter), writer M D Johnson, composer Tom Myron and is daughter, Gail Zezerman, Eslovenian composer and conductor Rok Golob, presenters at APAP, and many other friends from the East coast. Obrigada for your warm welcome. : )
New York is cool, I agree, but I wouldn’t live there; living close to the mountains, ocean, with clean air and sunshine for the most part of the year keeps insanity away! The first time I visited NY I stayed at a friend’s apartment in Soho; yes, the bathtub was right beside the fridge! This time Sambaguru stayed at a hotel at 49th St. between 7th and 8th Ave, close to Times Square and to the New York Hilton, were the APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) Conference took place. Visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral again reminded me of a smaller church I couldn’t find this time. Across the street from the hotel was St. Malachy’s Church where lots of artists used to go. I prayed for a good showcase and show. "Namastê," I heard back.

MORE GOOD NEWS:
Sambaguru's song TRIBO GANDHISTA will soon to be released on a compilation called  "Diaspora 4 Africa Vol. 3 in Germany and many other European countries.
Listen to TRIBO: www.sambaguru.com 
Booking: www.cadencearts.com

SHOWS
Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 7:30pm and 9:30pm
With Sambaguru
@ Jazz at the Radisson
Culver City, CA
Reservations: (310) 649-1776
http://www.in-housemusic.com/radisson_calendar.htm

Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 8pm and 10pm
With Sambaguru
@ SPAZIO'S
Sherman Oaks, CA
Reservations: (818) 728-8400
http://www.spazio.la/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.cgi 

Friday, February 12 - Brazilian Carnaval
With Pure Samba
@ KAHLUA CLUB
Houston, TX
http://www.myspace.com/brazilianeventshouston

Saturday, February 20th from 12 noon to 2pm
Celebrate Carnaval Workshop (Dance & Beyond with Katia Moraes)
@ Pulse Drumming (Ventura, CA)
www.pulsedrumming.com

CARNAVAL MOOD
My favorite Samba School in Rio: MANGUEIRA! Listen the 2010 song theme and watch the video of their community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-yi4eGFDGM&feature=player_embedded 
 
MOVIE
"O HOMEM QUE ENGARRAFAVA NUVENS," Documentary about Brazilian lyricist Humberto Teixeira who formed a historic partnership with Luis Gonzaga (The King of Baião)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GJYE4FUD54 


AROUND LA
Carnaval in Los Angeles (Feb. 20th) @Nokia Club
www.braziliannites.com
Carnaval in Santa Barbara (Feb. 19th, 20th & 21st)
www.sbbraziliancarnaval.com


BRAZILIAN NORTHEASTERN HERITAGE (SANFONICA/ACCORDEON ORQUESTRA FROM ARACAJU)
I wish I could join this band; check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsEHHrfqnlM 

MY NEW STORY JUST PUBLISHED: "GETTING RID OF GUILT"
http://www.more.com/4879/10508-helping-friends-heal

INTO ASTRONOMY? (STARRY NIGHT IN BRASIL)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090509.html

BRAZILIAN HISTORY (Carnaval in 1955)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmmel1WrXXE&feature=fvw

FOR YOU
"To him the stars seemed like so many musical notes affixed to the sky, just waiting for somebody to unfasten them. Someday the sky would be emptied, but by then the earth would be a constellation of musical scores"
(Quote by Brazilian writer Machado de Assis)


Happy Carnaval Season!
Peace,
Katia : )

Happy New Year! 

Feliz Ano Novo!

Sambaguru and I will be in NY for a showcase at APAP @  Hilton Hotel on January 8th at 6:45pm and for a show at SOB'S on January 9th at 8:30pm and 11pm. Join us! 

Let my Brazilian Heart music bring you joy!

Musical Blessings!

www.sambaguru.com

SAMBAGURU'S NEW YORK DEBUT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2010

@ SOB'S

BRAZILIAN HEART/ SPECIAL EXPRESS!

NEW YEAR'S EVE WITH SAMBAGURU!

@ South Coast Winery (Temecula, CA)
http://www.jazzandblues.org/features/2009/rhythmOnTheVineNewYears/ 

BRAZILIAN HEART / DECEMBER 2009

BRAZILIAN HEART

DECEMBER 2009

SINCE 1998

Just arrived from Guadalajara where I sang with Viver Brasil Dance Co. at Feria del Libro. This year the International Book Fair was honoring the city of Los Angeles. The Fair attracts an incredible

amount of young people who are hungry for Culture. They were amazingly warmth. The organizers offered performances all over town presenting  French, Middle East, African, Indian, Hawaian, Brazilian, and Spanish artists. The Festival of Sacred Music Team treated us beautifully ending our stay with a tour of the city, and a dinner with a margarita included!

If you ever go to Guadalajara, please visit the Palacio del Gubierno to see the Orozco's Murals! It's amazing.

Below, you'll find a list of Brazilian theme gifts I made for you, and a story by Rumi that I want to share. Let me know what you think.

Enjoy. : )

SHOWS:

Sambaguru on December 31st, 2009

@ South Coast Winery (Temecula, CA)

http://www.jazzandblues.org/features/2009/rhythmOnTheVineNewYears/

Sambaguru on January 9th, 2010

@ SOB (NY)
http://sobs.com/node/89 

CHRISTMAS GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.   PAULO COELHO’S Biography by Fernando Morais.

I met Paulo Coelho in Rio when my band played at his wife’s birthday party in Copacabana. One day he visited the apartment I used to live with my partner, and we exchanged books. He got my book about the Middle Ages (he had not written The Alchesmist yet.)  

The Brazilian writer Fernando Morais wrote another book called “Olga,” that I recommend as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Paulo-Coelho-Warriors-Authorized-Biography/dp/0061718882

2.   LULA MARCONDES paintings, drawings, etc.  Lula is from Recife,

Pernambuco, and I met him through Global Crest, a company created by Christi Pemberton and based in North Carolina that did a presentation with Sambaguru’s music. His pieces make me smile.

http://www.amazon.com/Paulo-Coelho-Warriors-Authorized-Biography/dp/0061718882

3.   TRIBO, Sambaguru’s new CD. We are very proud of this new one. Special guests include: Oscar Castro-Neves, Paul Jackson Jr,, Justo Almario, Siedah Garrett (lyricist),The Vine Street Horns,  and more. TRIBO appeared in the preliminary list for the Grammy 2009. Our previous CD, Navegar ao Sol, was also in the preliminary list.) Digstation.com is a great site to purchase from, and treats us with respect. Enjoy the video below!

http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumid=ALB000026953

4.   If you’re crazy about T-SHIRTS and Brasil, try these 2 sites:

http://shop.cafepress.com/brazilian-t'?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=seo--seo+-+general+apparel+-+us&utm_term=brazilian+t'+merchandise&utm_content=search-b&cmp=knc--g--us--seo--genapp_--b--brazilian_t'&gclid=CPnA_PP1tp4CFRQpawod3GVYmw

http://www.zazzle.com/brazil+gifts

5.   BRAZILIAN FILMS

http://www.brazilianfilms.com/cgi-bin/virtualdistrib/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=ENTER%20SHOP&thispage=_1loja.html&ORDER_ID=%21ORDERID%21&LANG=english&CUR=dollar

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Brazilian-movies/lm/RT9PLOZ1U0IXR

6.   PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

My friend Jorge Vismara has 2 beautiful books: “The Gift of Water”

with Viver Brasil Dance Co, and “Amazon River.” Check it out!

http://jorgevismara.net/books.html

7.   BRAZILIAN BIKINI

Sometimes girls ask me about the Brazilian “cut.” Ok, here it is.

http://www.hotfrombrazil.com/

8.   EYES OF A CHILD – DONATE

Antonio Covarrubia invited me to sing at one of his fundraisings this

year. It was an honor. Please, donate if you can.

http://www.eyesofachildusa.org/dream.html

9.   YOGA UNVEILED

After watching this movie I realized how much more is to be learned. I’ve been doing Yoga for a long time (Hatha in Brasil, Bikran style here in Los Angeles, and now Kundalini)

http://www.yogaunveiled.com/

10.  SKIN PRODUCTS

I found them at BRAZZIL magazine online.

 http://www.amazondrops.com/

FOR YOU

JESUS ON THE LEAN DONKEY (By Rumi)

Jesus on the lean donkey,

This is an emblem of how the rational intellect

Should control the animal-soul.

Let your spirit be strong like Jesus.

If that part becomes weak,

Then the worn-out donkey grows to a dragon.

Be grateful when what seems unkind comes from a wise person.

Once, a holy man, riding his donkey, saw a snake crawling into

a sleeping man’s mouth! He hurried, but he couldn’t

Prevent it. He hit the man several blows with his club.

The man woke terrified and ran beneath an apple tree

with many rotten apples on the ground.

“Eat! You miserable wretch! Eat”

“Why are you doing his to me?”

“Eat more you fool.”

“I’ve never seen you before!

Who are you? Do you have some inner quarrel with your soul?”

The wise man kept forcing him to eat, and then he ran him.

For hours he whipped the poor man and made him run.

Finally, at nightfall, full of rotten apples,

Fatigued, bleeding, he fell and vomited everything,

the good and the bad, the apples and the snake.

When he saw that ugly snake come out of himself, he fell on his knees

before his assailant.

“Are you Gabriel? Are you God?

I bless the moment you first noticed me. I was dead

and didn’t know it. You’ve given me a new life.

Everything I’ve said to you was stupid!

I didn’t know.”

“If I had explained what I was doing,

you might have panicked and died of fear.

Muhammad said,

“If I described the enemy that lives inside men, even the most

courageous would be paralyzed. No one would go out, or do any work. No

one would pray or fast, and all power to change would fade from human

beings,’ so I kept quiet while I was beating you, that like David I

might shape iron, so that, impossibly, I might put feathers back into

a bird’s wing.

God’s silence is necessary, because of humankind’s faintheartedness.

If I had told you about the snake, you wouldn’t have been able to eat, and if you hadn’t eaten, you wouldn’t have vomited.

I saw your condition and drove my donkey hard into the middle of it,

saying always under my breath, “Lord, make it easy on him.” I wasn’t

permitted to tell you, and I wasn’t permitted to stop beating you!”

The healed man, still kneeling, “I have no way to thank you for the

quickness of your wisdom and the strength of your guidance.

God will thank you.”

FELIZ NATAL & FELIZ ANO NOVO!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Katia : )))

BRAZILIAN HEART

NOVEMBER 2009

SINCE 1998

For me Halloween is a mix of Brazilian Carnaval and São Cosme e São Damião Day. Everybody knows what Carnaval is all about, but few people knows what São Cosme e São Damião is. September 27 in Brasil is considered the Day of Saint Cosme and Saint Damião, the twin brothers who protects children (pharmacists and doctors as well.) On that day people distribute candy to the kids and food to the poor. In Bahia, they are called “orixás Ibeji.” The legend says they were born in Arabia of Christian parents on the V Century. They were healers who ended up persecuted and killed accused of witchcraft. 

SHOWS:

Tuesday, November 10

With Oscar Castro-Neves

@ AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas, TX)

http://www.dallasperformingarts.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=4984

Saturday, November 28 at 8pm

With Viver Brasil

@ Japan America Theatre

Also featuring Shakti Dance Cia and Halau Keali’I O Nalani

Presented by World Festival of Sacred Music

www.wac.ucla.edu/cip

THE QUEEN OF BRAZILIAN THEATER

The Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro turned 80 years old this last October. On her birthday, the editor in chief of one of the biggest newspapers in Brasil ( O Globo ) asked her to choose and edit all the articles of the Section B (Arts) of the paper. It was a present to her and to Brasil.

If you don’t know her work, here’s a link to her interview with David Letterman when she as nominated for Best Actress for “Central Station” (1998 movie directed by Walter Salles.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kc67K_-e7M

BRAZILIAN POETRY

In 1987 Fernanda Montenegro brought to the stage “Dona Doida” (Miss Crazy,) a stage play with texts by Brazilian poet Adelia Prado.

Here’s a poem called Lesson from “Bagagem” (Baggage) translated by Ellen Watson. I still have this book that a sweet poet friend gave me in Rio. Enjoy.

“It was a shadowy yard, walled high with stones.

The trees held early apples, dark

Wine-colored skin, the perfected flavor of things

Ripe before their time.

Clay jugs sat alongside the wall.

I ate apples and sipped the purest water,

Knowing the outside world had stopped dead from heat:

Then my father appeared and tweaked my nose,

And he wasn’t sick and hadn’t died either;

That’s why he was laughing, blood

Stirring in his face again,

He was hunting for ways to spend this happiness:

Where’s my chisel, my fishing pole,

What happened to my snuffbox, my coffee cup?

I always dream something’s taking shape,

Nothing is ever dead.

What seems to have died fertilizes.

What seems motionless waits.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=aJ_vcxsI-1YC&pg=PR10&lpg=PR10&dq=Fernanda+Montenegro,+Adélia+Prado&source=bl&ots=TMp9pUOaHy&sig=XO3jpuSL3hVOpCiJfv46JaULJwE&hl=en&ei=3cLvSrnqK4_qsQPcsZmFBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Peace,

Katia  : )

BRAZILIAN HEART

NOVEMBER 2009

SINCE 1998

For me Halloween is a mix of Brazilian Carnaval and São Cosme e São Damião Day. Everybody knows what Carnaval is all about, but few people knows what São Cosme e São Damião is. September 27 in Brasil is considered the Day of Saint Cosme and Saint Damião, the twin brothers who protects children (pharmacists and doctors as well.) On that day people distribute candy to the kids and food to the poor. In Bahia, they are called “orixás Ibeji.” The legend says they were born in Arabia of Christian parents on the V Century. They were healers who ended up persecuted and killed accused of witchcraft. 

SHOWS:

Tuesday, November 10

With Oscar Castro-Neves

@ AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas, TX)

http://www.dallasperformingarts.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=4984

Saturday, November 28 at 8pm

With Viver Brasil

@ Japan America Theatre

Also featuring Shakti Dance Cia and Halau Keali’I O Nalani

Presented by World Festival of Sacred Music

www.wac.ucla.edu/cip

THE QUEEN OF BRAZILIAN THEATER

The Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro turned 80 years old this last October. On her birthday, the editor in chief of one of the biggest newspapers in Brasil ( O Globo ) asked her to choose and edit all the articles of the Section B (Arts) of the paper. It was a present to her and to Brasil.

If you don’t know her work, here’s a link to her interview with David Letterman when she as nominated for Best Actress for “Central Station” (1998 movie directed by Walter Salles.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kc67K_-e7M

BRAZILIAN POETRY

In 1987 Fernanda Montenegro brought to the stage “Dona Doida” (Miss Crazy,) a stage play with texts by Brazilian poet Adelia Prado.

Here’s a poem called Lesson from “Bagagem” (Baggage) translated by Ellen Watson. I still have this book that a sweet poet friend gave me in Rio. Enjoy.

“It was a shadowy yard, walled high with stones.

The trees held early apples, dark

Wine-colored skin, the perfected flavor of things

Ripe before their time.

Clay jugs sat alongside the wall.

I ate apples and sipped the purest water,

Knowing the outside world had stopped dead from heat:

Then my father appeared and tweaked my nose,

And he wasn’t sick and hadn’t died either;

That’s why he was laughing, blood

Stirring in his face again,

He was hunting for ways to spend this happiness:

Where’s my chisel, my fishing pole,

What happened to my snuffbox, my coffee cup?

I always dream something’s taking shape,

Nothing is ever dead.

What seems to have died fertilizes.

What seems motionless waits.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=aJ_vcxsI-1YC&pg=PR10&lpg=PR10&dq=Fernanda+Montenegro,+Adélia+Prado&source=bl&ots=TMp9pUOaHy&sig=XO3jpuSL3hVOpCiJfv46JaULJwE&hl=en&ei=3cLvSrnqK4_qsQPcsZmFBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Peace,

Katia  : )