05/16/2024 – 17:54
It all started with intelligent leg movements, strong steps back and forth, to the rhythm of Brazilian funk. Then, break dance, samba, capoeira, frevo or whatever was nearby come into play.
Passinho, a dance style created in the 2000s by children from Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by Rio de Janeiro state deputies in March, recognizing a cultural expression born in popular neighborhoods.
The creators of passinho were children with great flexibility and no joint problems. They started experimenting with new movements at home and started showing them at funk parties in the communities and, most importantly, sharing them on the Internet.
At the beginning of social media, young people posted videos of their latest choreography on Orkut and YouTube, and the style began to spread to other favelas. A competitive scene was then born and young people copied and learned from the best dancers.
“The step in my life is the basis of everything I have,” said dancer and choreographer Walcir de Oliveira, 23, in an interview. “It’s where I can make a living and I can show people my joy and vent, you know? That’s where I feel happy, well.”
Brazilian producer Julio Ludemir helped capture this spirit and discover talent by organizing “passinho battles” in the early 2010s. At these events, young people showed off their moves in front of a jury that selected the winners.
The “Out of Doors” festival, at New York’s Lincoln Center, hosted one of these duels in 2014, giving the American public a taste of Brazilian moves. Passinho went beyond the borders of the favelas and separated itself from funk parties, often associated with crime. The dancers began appearing on mainstream television and gained prominence during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Ludemir describes the style as an expression of Brazilian “anthropophagy,” the modernist concept of cannibalizing elements from other cultures to produce something new.
“Passinho is a dance that absorbs references from all dances. It is a crossroads of cultural influences absorbed by young people from the periphery as they connect with the world through social networks,” she says.
Dancing has also become a way for young people to move seamlessly between communities controlled by rival drug gangs. In addition to offering people in the favela a new way out, away from a life of crime or the very common dream of becoming a football star.
The passinho was declared State Heritage by the Legislative Assembly of Rio, via a law proposed by state deputy Verônica Lima. The law was approved unanimously and sanctioned on March 7th. In a statement, Verônica Lima said it was important to help “decriminalize funk and the artistic expressions of young people” in the favelas.
Ludemir says that the recognition of this heritage will certainly consolidate the first generation of passinho dancers as an inspiration for young people in the favelas.
Among them is Pablo Henrique Gonçalves, a dancer known as Pablinho Fantástico, who won a passinho battle in 2014 and created a group called OZCrias, with four dancers born and raised in Rocinha, Rio’s largest favela, just like him. The group earns money by performing at festivals, events, theaters and TV shows, and was grateful for the recognition of their heritage.
Another dance group is Passinho Carioca, located in the Penha favela complex, on the other side of the city. One of its directors, Nayara Costa, said in an interview that she came from a family where everyone was involved in drug trafficking. The step saved her from that fate and now she uses it to help young people, in addition to teaching anyone interested in learning.
“Today I teach people over 60, the passinho is for everyone”, says Costa. “The little step, just as it changed my life, will continue to change the lives of others”.
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