First competitive night of the Gold category displays diversity of Amazonian folklore

Presentation

Regional dances, square dances, indigenous and northeastern dances passed through the Cultural Center of the Peoples of the Amazon this Saturday night

Manaus (AM) – The diversity of influences and styles of the groups that make up the Gold category of the 65⁰ Folk Festival of the Amazon was evident in the first competitive night of the event, held in the arena of the Centro Cultural dos Povos da Amazônia.

Six groups presented themselves for the jury’s evaluation, alternating in the arena influences inherited from northeasterners, indigenous peoples and caboclos, evidencing the miscegenation that gave rise to the various folklore manifestations that have survived for decades in the Amazon.

Regional dances, square dances, indigenous and northeastern dances passed through the Cultural Center of the Peoples of the Amazon this Saturday night (07/15), also showing diversity in the age group of the players, who were from children to the elderly.

Playing cowboys at the Garrote Tradicional Brilho do Campo, the second show on the night, Carla da Silva and Stênio Teixeira Ramos have cultivated the habit of playing cowboys for decades. He at 80 and she at 68 were among the liveliest members of bumbá.

“I played at Corre Campo, I played at Amado, I played at all the oxen in Manaus. In Colina, in General Osório, in Parque Amazonense, in all these places I played, since I was a boy”, boasts Stênio, citing traditional places that hosted the Folk Festival in Manaus and adding that he does not intend to stop playing with oxen anytime soon.

“I’ve been participating in the festival since the ball started”, says Dona Carla, citing the time when the Amazonas Folk Festival started to be held on a platform in Bola da Suframa, in the late 1970s. Run Campo and at Tira Prosa”, he says.

The organized fans were also a strong presence in the folkloric night. One of the strongest, wielding green and white banners and balloons, was that of the dueling gang Em Busca da Paz, from the Redenção neighborhood. The crowd was led by Priscila Maia.

“We are from Redenção and we root for the best gang in Manaus, the gang of my heart. I’ve dedicated myself to it since 2019. The gang is already 14 years old, but since 2019 I’ve been coordinating this wonderful mess”, says Priscila, rejecting the title of “organized fans”.

Dance Coordinator of Cacetinho Waimiri Atroari, existing since 1988, from the Santa Luzia neighborhood, José de Arimateia, highlighted the sporting spirit of the competition.

“We have several titles in the Gold category, but we are not always champions. It has casualties. Last year, for example, we were runners-up. But that doesn’t make us lose our merit, nor our essence. My opponent, Baniwa, did a great job and he deserved it. We are here to enhance the festival and rescue the popular culture of our state”, stated José de Arimateia.

The Northeastern Dance Descendants of Lampião, the Regional Dance Legends and Peoples of the Amazon and the Northeastern Dance Avengers of the Sertão, which closed the night, also passed through the arena of the Cultural Center of the Peoples of the Amazon. Outside of the competitive show, dance groups from the Vida e Saúde do Idoso Ativo project opened the folkloric evening at Povos da Amazônia.

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