Brazilian State Lawmakers Declare a Dance 'Cultural Heritage'
2024-05-18
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1A dance that started in some of Brazil's poorest neighborhoods is being honored by Rio de Janeiro state lawmakers.
2The passinho started with leg movements, strong steps backwards and forwards, while moving to a Brazilian form of funk music.
3It took moves from dance styles like break dancing, samba, capoeira and frevo.
4Young people in Rio de Janeiro's poor neighborhoods known as favelas started the dance style.
5Rio de Janeiro state lawmakers declared the dance a piece of "cultural heritage" in March.
6The declaration honors a cultural expression from the favelas.
7The creators of the passinho were young people and children.
8They started trying out new moves at home and then showing them off at funk parties in their communities.
9The dances became more popular after people started sharing them on the internet.
10In the early days of social media, people shared videos of their dance moves on Orkut and YouTube.
11The style started spreading to other favelas and competitions started.
12The young people copied and learned from the top dancers, leading them to invent new moves.
13"Passinho in my life is the basis of everything I have," dancer and choreographer Walcir de Oliveira told the Associated Press.
14"It's where I manage to earn my livelihood, and I can show people my joy and blow off steam," he said.
15"It's where I feel happy, good."
16Brazilian producer Julio Ludemir helped discover new dancers by organizing "passinho battles" in the early 2010s.
17At these events, youths took turns showing off their steps before a jury that chose the winners.
18A music and dance event in New York City held a competition in 2014.
19It showed Americans the dance style.
20Dancers started appearing on popular TV shows and performed at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
21Ludemir describes the style as an expression of Brazilian culture, called "cannibalism."
22That is the idea of taking elements from other cultures to produce something new.
23He said the passinho is a dance that takes elements "from all dances. It's a crossing of the cultural influences absorbed by kids...as they were connecting with the world through social media in internet cafes."
24Supporters say dancing also became a way for young people from the favelas to avoid becoming criminals.
25Rio state legislator Veronica Lima proposed the law honoring the passinho.
26In a statement, Lima said it was important to help "decriminalize funk and artistic expressions of youths" from the favelas.
27Ludemir said the declaration honors the first generation of passinho dancers as examples for favela youths.
28Among them is Pablo Henrique Goncalves.
29He won a passinho battle back in 2014 and created a boy group called OZCrias.
30The group has four dancers from Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro's largest favela.
31The group earns money performing.
32Another dance group is Passinho Carioca in the Penha favelas on the other side of the city.
33One of its leaders, Nayara Costa, said she came from a family where everyone was involved in selling drugs.
34She said Passinho saved her from that life. Now she uses dance to help young people and teach anyone interested in learning.
35"Today I give classes to people who are in their sixties; passinho is for everyone," said Costa, who is 23.
36"Passinho, in the same way that it changed my life, is still going to change the lives of others."
37I'm Dan Novak.
1A dance that started in some of Brazil's poorest neighborhoods is being honored by Rio de Janeiro state lawmakers. 2The passinho started with leg movements, strong steps backwards and forwards, while moving to a Brazilian form of funk music. It took moves from dance styles like break dancing, samba, capoeira and frevo. 3Young people in Rio de Janeiro's poor neighborhoods known as favelas started the dance style. Rio de Janeiro state lawmakers declared the dance a piece of "cultural heritage" in March. The declaration honors a cultural expression from the favelas. 4The creators of the passinho were young people and children. They started trying out new moves at home and then showing them off at funk parties in their communities. The dances became more popular after people started sharing them on the internet. 5In the early days of social media, people shared videos of their dance moves on Orkut and YouTube. The style started spreading to other favelas and competitions started. The young people copied and learned from the top dancers, leading them to invent new moves. 6"Passinho in my life is the basis of everything I have," dancer and choreographer Walcir de Oliveira told the Associated Press. "It's where I manage to earn my livelihood, and I can show people my joy and blow off steam," he said. "It's where I feel happy, good." 7Brazilian producer Julio Ludemir helped discover new dancers by organizing "passinho battles" in the early 2010s. At these events, youths took turns showing off their steps before a jury that chose the winners. 8A music and dance event in New York City held a competition in 2014. It showed Americans the dance style. Dancers started appearing on popular TV shows and performed at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. 9Ludemir describes the style as an expression of Brazilian culture, called "cannibalism." That is the idea of taking elements from other cultures to produce something new. He said the passinho is a dance that takes elements "from all dances. It's a crossing of the cultural influences absorbed by kids...as they were connecting with the world through social media in internet cafes." 10Supporters say dancing also became a way for young people from the favelas to avoid becoming criminals. Rio state legislator Veronica Lima proposed the law honoring the passinho. In a statement, Lima said it was important to help "decriminalize funk and artistic expressions of youths" from the favelas. 11Ludemir said the declaration honors the first generation of passinho dancers as examples for favela youths. 12Among them is Pablo Henrique Goncalves. He won a passinho battle back in 2014 and created a boy group called OZCrias. The group has four dancers from Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro's largest favela. The group earns money performing. 13Another dance group is Passinho Carioca in the Penha favelas on the other side of the city. One of its leaders, Nayara Costa, said she came from a family where everyone was involved in selling drugs. She said Passinho saved her from that life. Now she uses dance to help young people and teach anyone interested in learning. 14"Today I give classes to people who are in their sixties; passinho is for everyone," said Costa, who is 23. "Passinho, in the same way that it changed my life, is still going to change the lives of others." 15I'm Dan Novak. 16Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. 17_________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19style -n. a particular way of doing an activity or wearing clothes 20heritage - n. the traditions, beliefs and accomplishments that are part of the history of a group of people 21choreographer - n. a person who directs and teaches dance 22blow off steam - v. (idiom) to release energy to avoid getting angry or unhappy