Garrote Estrelinha marks 40 years of cultural and social action in Petrópolis

Manaus (AM) – Cultural manifestations show, in different ways, the behavior and values ​​of a group within society. Through these manifestations, the history of a people is told and passed from father to son, keeping alive the cultural tradition in our country.

According to anthropologist Socorro Batalha, cultural manifestations can be expressed in different ways and are essential for the construction of identity and representativeness of any social group.

“It is these cultural manifestations that mobilize social agents from different generations and constitute relationships of belonging and resistance”,

said the professional.

In Amazonas, the culture of the boi bumbá, driven by the grandeur of the Parintins Folk Festival, brought the world’s spotlight to the party held in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The dispute between Garantido and Caprichoso keeps alive the tradition of “folklore” for three days, drawing crowds of supporters and tourists to the small riverside town.

Carrying out a social and, at the same time, cultural work within the Petrópolis neighborhood, in Manaus, Garrote Estrelinha completed in 2023, 40 years of history working directly with children and adolescents residing, or not, in the neighborhood of the South Zone of the capital.

The beginning of Garrote Estrelinha

Created by Francisco Soares, Garrote Estrelinha was founded on June 8, 1983, as a leisure option for children and young people in the Petrópolis neighborhood, who readily accepted to participate and started playing with cardboard boxes and tin drums.

“I created Estrelinha because, at that time, there was no garrote game for children and teenagers, there was only the boi bumbá where only adults played. For this reason, me and other children at the time decided to do Garrote Estrelinha”,

explained Francisco Soares.

The name of the garrote formed by children also came up in a special way, as explained by the founder of the popular game.

“As other children joined in, we started looking for a name for our tourniquet. Several names were mentioned, until some young people looked at the sky, which was quite starry, and in the midst of so many stars, there was a small star that shone more than the others. Colleagues called each other’s attention to look at the bright star and so the idea of ​​the garrote’s name came up. Little Star Garrote”,

recalled Soares.

It was only in 1990 that Garrote Estrelinha joined AGFAM (Association of Folklore Groups of Amazonas), starting to compete in the extra category at the Folklore Festival of Amazonas (FFA), traditionally held at the Peoples of the Amazon Cultural Center. Currently, Garrote Estrelinha competes in the FFA through the Associação Folclórica Cultural Boi Bumbá Corre Campo.

Musical composition

In order to professionalize the game more and more, Garrote Estrelinha needed musical support to carry out the presentations. It was from 1995 onwards that the garrote went through the transition from the traditional style to the regional one, implementing instruments in the band, such as double bass, keyboard, guitar and charango.

Responsible for bringing together the components of the first musical generation of Garrote Estrelinha, the prankster Damião Mota started looking for people willing to help the association. Passionate about Amazonian culture, former child counselor Félix Ramos accepted the challenge of joining the band and started to help look for the next members who would integrate the musical core.

“I knew Damião and he invited me to join the band. After I accepted the invitation, we went looking for the next members, that’s how I met Márcio Greick, and that’s how we started putting the band together. We are all linked to the Church of São Pedro Apostolo, in Petrópolis”,

said Felix Ramos.

A member of the group’s new musical generation, keyboardist Gabriel Nicácio is responsible for organizing the instrumentalists in the execution of arena tunes.

“I’ve been participating since 2015. I joined to participate in the liturgy at the Church of São Pedro and soon after the tourniquet appeared in my life and I embraced the cause, joining the useful to the pleasant. Music occupies the time of the players, taking it to the cultural side. Our neighborhood has a lot of tradition in these cultural groups, people who play here are involved in various activities”,

pointed out the keyboardist.

Currently, the official band at Garrote Estrelinha is made up of keyboardist and conductor Gabriel Nicácio, guitarist Daniel Nicácio, bassist André Ricardo, backing vocal Lúcio Souza and André Assunção, in the charango. The musical direction is by Félix Ramos. Since the beginning of the game, no member of the band has received financial return to participate, the donation of time and willingness is 100% free.

participatory community

The players of Garrote Estrelinha are mostly residents of the Petrópolis neighborhood. Many of them participate in the game in childhood, and after reaching the age of majority, they start to help organize the cultural activity, such as coordinator Bruna Paola, who is 29 years old, 24 of which with Estrelinha.

“I started in 1999, as a little sinhazinha mirim, I went through all the items of the garrote and after reaching the age of majority, I could no longer participate, so we end up returning to batucada or coordination. In 2015, I became batucada’s chief, I stayed there for three years and now I’m the batucada’s general coordinator”,

Bruno said.

Participating for the first time in Garrote Estrelinha, six-year-old Laura Rocha, resident of the Petrópolis neighborhood, received her mother’s encouragement to dance in the FFA’s 40th anniversary presentation.

“Our family has always been involved in folklore, both in terms of the quadrille and Garrote Estrelinha. In the same way that I grew up in this environment, I also tried to encourage her to participate”,

told the mother, Brenda Rocha.

Garrote Estrelinha: 40 years of Folklore and Popular Culture, reliving our history

Last Monday (17), Garrote Estrelinha held, at the Povos da Amazônia Cultural Center, its official presentation of the year 2023 at the Amazonas Folk Festival, in the gold category. With the theme “Garrote Estrelinha: 40 years of Folklore and Popular Culture, reliving our history”, the evolution of the cultural manifestation was told over 40 minutes.

Traditionally, the beginning of the presentation of the Garrote Estrelinha is attended by the mother of the founder of the garrote, the honorary president, Dona Antônia Soares Rodrigues. For the first time, for health reasons, she was unable to attend the live performance, but according to Francisco Soares, her mother blessed the game days before.

“My mother didn’t participate for health reasons, but even so, she came to me, said that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the presentation, and blessed the bull game that I love so much; she said that whatever she had planned, it would work out”,

Soares said.

And one of the highlights of the presentation was Cunhã Poranga Victória Fernandes, 9 years old, who participated for the second time in the garrote and raised the crowd with her choreographed steps.

“It’s a dream of mine, the ox is my life. My inspiration is Isabelle Nogueira, Cunhã Poranga do Boi Garantido, Estrelinha himself inspires me, in these 40 years of history, I want to continue for a long time. I feel a very good energy, I want to rock”,

said the joker.

The effective participation of the community is one of the key points for strengthening culture, as explained by Socorro Batalha.

“It is in these preparation spaces for presentations that involve creations, human interactions, rehearsals, productions, that the relationships of belonging are created, related to identifications and references”,

pointed out the anthropologist.

Formed by people who are passionate about Amazonian culture, the members of Garrote Estrelinha donate time and talent in order to maintain the social work started by Francisco Soares. After 40 years of activity in the South Zone of the capital, the founder of the game thanks everyone who went through the tourniquet since the beginning of his career.

“My message is one of gratitude to all the families that participate and participated in our Garrote Estrelinha. Gratitude always. As long as there is love, affection and dedication, Estrelinha will continue with the strength of our families involved in this excellent folk group”,

finished Francisco Soares.

*In memory of Antonia Soares Rodrigues

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