LEARNING HOW TO DANCE FORRÓ

SIMPLE BASIC STEPS BUT VERY NICE....

Forró (Portuguese pronunciation: [foˈʁɔ]) is a kind of Northeastern Brazilian dance that developed from European styles of folk music such as "Chula" and "Xotis" (term that originated the derivate "xote"), as well as a word used to denote the different genres of music which accompanies the dance. Both are much in evidence during the annual Festa Junina (June Festival)

There are several theories on the origin of the name.

"Forró" in the same written way (with the accented o) in the Hungarian language means "burning hot". In the 1940s, there were thousands of Hungarian emigrants arriving to South-America. This is thought to have led to the naming of this dance.

Another accepted theory puts forró as a derivative of forrobodó, meaning "great party" or "commotion". This is the view held by Brazilian folklorist Câmara Cascudo, who studied the Brazilian Northeast through most of his life. Forrobodó is believed to come from the word forbodó (itself a corruption of fauxbourdon), which was used in the Portuguese court to define a dull party.

Another theory often heard popularly in Brazil is that the word forró is a derivative of the English expression "for all" and that it originated in the early 1900s. English engineers on the Great Western Railway of Brazil near Recife would throw balls on weekends and classify them as either only for railroad personnel or for the general populace ("for all"). This belief was somewhat reinforced by a similar practice by USAF personnel stationed at the Natal Air Force Base during World War II, but it is not possible because before the USAF went to Natal, the name "Forró" was already in use.

Popularity

Forró is the most popular genre in Brazil's Northeast. It is the name of the dance. Different genres of music can be used to dance the forró. Traditionally, all of these music genres uses only three instruments (accordion, zabumba and a metal triangle). The dance also become very different as you cross the borders of the Northeast into the Southeast. As part of the popular culture it is in constant change. The dance known as college forró is the most common style between the middle-class students of colleges and universities in the Southeast, having influences of other dances like salsa and samba-rock. The traditional music used to dance the forró was brought to the Southeast from the Northeast by Luiz Gonzaga, who transformed the baião (a word originated from baiano and assigned a warm-up for artists to search for inspiration before playing) into a more sophisticated rhythm. In later years, forró achieved popularity throughout Brazil, in the form of a slower genre known as xote, that has been influenced by pop-rock music to become more acceptable by Brazilian youth of Southeast, South and Central regions.

Themes

Forró lyrics are usually about love and romance, passion, jealousy, or reminiscing about an ex-lover. They often are about Northeastern themes and the longing or homesickness (saudade) that was often experienced during migrations in search of work. An example of this are the lyrics of a folkloric, anonymous song, very popular in the Northeast and made famous across the country by Luiz Gonzaga, "Asa Branca" (the literal translation is White Wing; there is a recent American version played by Forro in the Dark featuring David Byrne) in which the singer says he will return home when the rains fall again on the dry, barren land of Northeast. They will know he is coming when they see a certain white winged bird of the savanna (sertão) that only arrives when it rains.

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