LAVAGEM CELEBRATION: African-Brazilian and Indigenous Music and Dance Festival

The Lavagem Celebration shares, teaches, documents and archives Indigenous (Caboclos) and Brazilian Black arts culture with Charlotte communities, while cultivating a space for fellowship with dance and music workshops, cultural performances, a lavagem procession and panel discussions.

Thursday, April 13th:

Location: Mint Museum

6:00pm: Welcome and Historical Reverence

6:15pm-7:30pm: The Spirit of the Drum: African Brazilian drumming class - Jose Ricardo & Bira Monteiro

7:30-9pm: Danca Afro workshop - Nildinha Fonseca

9-9:30pm: Wrap up 

Friday, April 14th:

Location: The Harvey B. Gantt Center 

6:00-7:30pm: Symbology of the Orixá Dance workshop - Vera Passos

7:30-9:30pm: LAVAGEM! Procession with live performances and capoeira roda

(will occur in Green Park - a procession to the park, weather permitting)

Saturday, April 15th:

Location: The Harvey B. Gantt Center

10-10:30am: Check-in

10:30-12:00pm: Samba de Caboclo dance workshop - José Ricardo

12:00-1:45pm: Capoeira workshop - Mestre Jelon

2:00-3:00pm: BREAK/lunch

3:00-4:00pm: - Symbology of the Orixá - Rosangela Silvestre

4:05-5:00pm: Performances

Sunday, April 16th:

Location: Dance District 

11-12:30pm: Silvestre Technique - Rosangela Silvestre

12:30: Closing

2023 Artists

04/13/23:
José Ricardo 
Samba de Caboclo
This workshop investigates samba from it roots, coming from the Caboclos, or Indígenous people of present day Brazil.
José Ricardo Sousa is a master percussionist and preserver of traditional African-Brazilian music and dance. He is the musical director, composer, musician and instructor of traditional Afro-Brazilian dance and music for Bahia’s celebrated company, the Balé Folclórico da Bahia. José Ricardo started his arts career in percussion and dance under the tutelage of Mestre King at the SESC School of the Arts in 1985. José Ricardo has toured and taught in Brazil, Europe and in more than 120 cities in the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Canada, Togo and Benin. José Ricardo received the prestigious Lester Horton award for excellence in music for dance in 2009 with Luiz Badaró and Mario Pallais.  

Nildinha Fonseca
Dança Afro
This workshop introduces the diverse dances that come from the African nations of West and Central Africa as they reemerged in Brazil.
Nildinha Fonseca from Salvador, Bahia holds the title of soloist with Brazil’s premier regional dance company, the Balé Folclórico da Bahia. She is responsible for training the company in modern dance techniques, Afro-Brazilian traditional and contemporary dance as well as conducting master classes when the company tours. She began her dance training at the well known, SESC School of Dance and Music under the tutelage of Raimundo B. dos Santos, aka Mestre King. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Dance from the Federal University of Bahia, has a certificate in the Silvestre technique, studied ballet with José Carlos Arandiba, aka Zebrinha, studied African dance with Chuck Davis and Germaine Acogny and modern dance with Judith Jamison. Nildinha has extensive touring experience performing in Brazil, throughout Europe, and in over 120 cities in the United States, Australia, Mexico and Canada. She has been a guest instructor at California Brazil Camp in Northern California and taught in Viver Brasil’s Bahia Travel program. She has performed as a guest artist with Viver Brasil since 2009.
 
Bira Montiero
African -Brazilian percussion 

04/14/23
Vera Passos
Symbology of the Orixas 
This workshop introduces the movement symbology of the sacred dances of the Orixá as an artistic practice. 
Vera Passos (choreographer/dancer) is considered one of Salvador Bahia’s most elegant and eloquent contemporary Afro-Brazilian dancers. The Los Angeles Times called Passos, “exotic, strong but sylphlike.” Passos has danced for Jorge Silva Dance Company and the acclaimed Bale Folclórico da Bahia touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Asia, the US and South America for ten years. Passos began her dance training at the age of 14 at the State of Bahia’s Escola de Dança subsequently training in the Silvestre Technique in 1992 with Rosangela Silvestre. Silvestre’s protégé, Passos has taught the technique since 2002 in Salvador and throughout Brazil, South America, Europe and the US. Vera performed with jazzman Steve Coleman throughout Europe in 2002 and 2003. Passos choreographs for Tocandomblé and in 2010, participated in the first annual Viver Brasil Institute in Los Angeles as a technical trainer and visiting artist. In 2015, she premiered her first full-length work for Viver Brasil, Peace Transcends, at the Aratani Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2016 she choreographed and performed in the company’s Bloco Afro Spectacle for the Olympic Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl.
Vera Passos is considered one of Salvador, Bahia’s most elegant and eloquent contemporary Afro-Brazilian dancers. The Los Angeles Times recently called Vera “... exotic, strong but sylph-like.” Her extensive technique seamlessly encompasses modern dance, classical ballet, dança afro, jazz, and traditional Afro-Brazilian. Vera has danced for Jorge Silva Dance Company and the acclaimed Balé Folclórico da Bahia touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Asia, the US and South America. Vera began her dance training at the age of fourteen at the State of Bahia’s Escola de Dança. In 1992, Vera began training in the Silvestre Technique with Rosangela Silvestre and soon became Rosangela’s protégé. Vera has taught the technique since 2002 in Salvador, São Paulo, Argentina and the US. Vera performed with the eclectic American musician Steve Coleman throughout Europe in 2002 and 2003. She also choreographs for Tocandomblé and danced in the opera Lidia de Oxum, choreographed by Carlos Moraes.

04/15/23
José Ricardo 
Samba de Caboclo
This workshop shares the roots of the samba that comes from the Indigenous nations of current day Brazil.
See bio above

Mestre Jelon 
Capoeira
This is workshop provides the history and practice of Candomblé from Mestre Jelon, one of the master teachers responsible for bringing the art form to the United States.
Mestre Jelon Vieira, founder of Capoeira Luanda, is a world-renowned master and teacher of capoeira. Born in Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia, Brazil, in 1953, he started learning capoeira Angola at the age of 10 with Mestre Emerito and later with Mestre Bobô. In 1969, he met Mestre Eziquiel, with whom he studied capoeira regional. He also had the honor of attending classes at Mestre Bimba’s academy. 
In 1977, Vieira and the late Loremil Machado formed the Capoeiras of Bahia (later changed to DanceBrazil at the suggestion of Alvin Ailey), the first to bring traditional Afro-Brazilian dance and capoeira to the United States. As artistic director of the Capoeira Foundation and DanceBrazil, Vieira has devoted more than 30 years to bringing electrifying performances to audiences in the United States, Brazil, Asia and Europe.
Vieira has taught capoeira at numerous prestigious colleges across the United States. As a guest master at universities including Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Princeton, Vieira has immersed his students in not only the techniques of capoeira, but also in the philosophy surrounding the art form. For Vieira, capoeira is more than art, but a way of life. In 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts honored Vieira’s dedication to educating diverse audiences on his culture and capoeira, as well as his commitment to giving back to under-resourced communities with a National Heritage Fellowship.

Rosangela Silvestre
Symbology of the Orixá 
This dance workshop explores the Orixá dances as an artistic practice.
Rosangela Silvestre is a choreographer, instructor, dancer and creator of the Silvester Dance Technique, and is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance. Her post-graduate work specialized in choreography, and she earned her degree from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA).
She has researched dance and music in Brazil, India, Egypt, Senegal and Cuba as part of her ever-evolving and eclectic palette of movement. She acquired training in such diverse techniques as: Martha Graham, Limon, Horton, floor bar, classic ballet and Dunham Technique, and has experienced diverse dance expressions such as Germany theater dance, contemporary, folkloric, as well as traditional dances of Africa and other continents. Her instructors include Raimundo Bispo dos Santos (Mestre King), Mercedes Baptista, Clayde Morgan and Carlos Moraes, Nelma Seixas, among others, beginning in the late 1970s. 
Since 1981, Silvestre started to travel in and around Brazil to teach, to train dancers, to perform to lecture and to demonstrate, to consult and to attend seminars and residencies in diverse universities and dance festivals such as : Colorado College Dance Festival; New Orleans Dance Festival; and dance camps such as the California Brazil Camp. She choreographed numerous dance pieces for companies based in Brazil—Balé Folclorico da Bahia and Odunde—as well as Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico Repertory Company, American Academy of Ballet, Roots of Brazil, Dance Brazil, Viver Brazil, Muntu Dance Theater and the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Company.
Her dance investigation and constant development created an opportunity to connect with the eclectic American musician Steve Coleman, with whom she traveled to diverse countries which have African roots in their music and dance. With Steve Coleman, Rosangela developed an idea to have the body as an instrument that provides the movement-form of any sound that can be captured, thereby discovering and creating dance at any moment.
Rosangela’s use of her voice is an integral part of her work in dance. In September 2011, she completed the CD: Voices of Nature’ recorded and produced by Mike Zecchino at The Nail Recording Studio in Tucson, Arizona.
04/16/23
Rosangela Silvestre
Silvestre Dance Technique
The Silvestre Technique is acontinuously evolving contemporary dance technique with the objective of conditioning the dancer through physical and expressive training. All levels are welcomed and encouraged to train. Silvestre Technique brings to dance training a connection with the physical body and its connection to the Universe, which Silvestre calls, "the Body Universe." The Body Universe is symbolized by three triangles formed on the body.
See bio above  View more information

Schedule & Tickets

Free

Thursday, April 13, 2023 @ 6:00pm · tickets · add to calendar 2023-04-13 18:00:00 2023-04-13 21:00:00 America/New_York LAVAGEM CELEBRATION: African-Brazilian and Indigenous Music and Dance Festival https://charlottecultureguide.com/event/428278/lavagem-celebration-african-brazilian-and-indigenous-music-and-dance-festival Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at Levine Center for the Arts, 551 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, 28202
Friday, April 14, 2023 @ 6:00pm · tickets · add to calendar 2023-04-14 18:00:00 2023-04-14 21:00:00 America/New_York LAVAGEM CELEBRATION: African-Brazilian and Indigenous Music and Dance Festival https://charlottecultureguide.com/event/428278/lavagem-celebration-african-brazilian-and-indigenous-music-and-dance-festival Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at Levine Center for the Arts, 551 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, 28202
Saturday, April 15, 2023 @ 10:30am · tickets · add to calendar 2023-04-15 10:30:00 2023-04-15 13:30:00 America/New_York LAVAGEM CELEBRATION: African-Brazilian and Indigenous Music and Dance Festival https://charlottecultureguide.com/event/428278/lavagem-celebration-african-brazilian-and-indigenous-music-and-dance-festival Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at Levine Center for the Arts, 551 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, 28202
Sunday, April 16, 2023 @ 10:30am · tickets · add to calendar 2023-04-16 10:30:00 2023-04-16 13:30:00 America/New_York LAVAGEM CELEBRATION: African-Brazilian and Indigenous Music and Dance Festival https://charlottecultureguide.com/event/428278/lavagem-celebration-african-brazilian-and-indigenous-music-and-dance-festival Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at Levine Center for the Arts, 551 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, 28202

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