Intercultural Residency Series
Fall 2007: Afro-Brazilian Music & Dance: Ologundê

Ologundê
An Afro-Brazilian Journey in Music and Dance
October 18-20, 2007

Experience the journey across time, place, and cultures as Ologundê performs a diverse repertoire which includes rituals associated with candomblé; capoeira, a breathtaking martial arts dance; maculêlê, a warrior dance which utilizes sticks and machetes and was originally created in the sugar cane fields by slaves; and the exhilarating samba de roda, which can be traced back to the semba of Angola.

Ologundê brings stunning performances from Afro-Brazilian traditions to the Brandeis campus for a series of open classes, roundtable discussions, film, a dance workshop, and concerts.

Film

Quilombo Country: Afrobrazilian Villages in the 21st Century
A documentary film by Leonard Abrams, narrated by Chuck D
2006, 73 minutes.

Tuesday, October 16
6:00 PM  in Pollack Auditorium

Brazil, once the world’s largest slave colony, was a brutal and deadly place for millions of Africans. But many thousands escaped or rebelled, creating their own communities in Brazil’s untamed hinterland. Today they navigate the hazards of the modern world.

This documentary, narrated by Chuck D, the legendary poet, media commentator and leader of Public Enemy, is about rural communities (quilombos) in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or begun from abandoned plantations. The film ranges from the Northeastern sugar-growing regions to the heart of the Amazon rainforest, raising issues of political identity, land rights, and racial and socioeconomic discrimination. Included is rare footage of syncretic Umbanda and Pajelança ceremonies.

For more information: brandeis.edu/MusicUnitesUS/film.html

Residency Events

Across campus; all event free and open to the public, except the World Music Concert.

MusicUnitesUS Outreach Concerts

Thursday, October 18
9:15-10:15 a.m. and 10:45-11:45 a.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall
Ologundê performs for Waltham Public School students

Coponsored by the Waltham Public Schools

Improvisation as Social Practice: Brazil and the Brazilian Diaspora

Performance and Roundtable Discussion
Thursday, October 18
3:00-4:30 p.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall

In this session, we consider the broad theme of improvisation in Brazil and the Brazilian diaspora, in music and in other forums. How, in Bahia and other “intercultural zones”, are diverse traditions creatively recombined and played upon, in music, dance, and the performance of everyday life?

15- minute performance by Ologundê, followed by a roundtable conversation, facilitated by Mark Auslander (Brandeis).

Panelists include:
Artists from Ologundê , Jason Stanyek, ethnomusicologist (NYU), Luiz Casteloes, composer (BU), and members of Brandeis faculty Wayne Marshall and Ibrahim Sundiata.

Cosponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life; and Latin American and Latino Studies.

Ologundê Performance

Thursday, October 18
5:00-6:00 p.m.
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Cosponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life; and Latin American and Latino Studies.

Secrecy and Revelation in Afro-Brazilian Experience

Friday, October 19
12:10-1:30 p.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall
Join this open class with students from CP 201: Making Culture and Anth 1a: Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies.

In this session, we explore paradoxes of concealment and revelation in Afro-Brazilian spirituality and religious performance. How does one perform a secret in public? How does a believer or artist allude to secret knowledge in performance, while still hororing the necessities of respectful concealment?

Short performance by Ologundê followed by conversation among the panelists:

Artists from Ologundê, Olajide Olagunju (Anthropology), Alexander Levering Kern (Chaplaincy), and Brandeis faculty Mark Auslander and Ellen Schattschneider.

Cosponsored by Romance and Comparative Literature

Gender, Power, and Performance in Afro-Atlantic Religions

Friday, October 19
1:40-3:00 p.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall
Join this open class with students of Anth 144a: Anthropology of Gender

In conversation with the artists of Ologundê, we explore gender and the power of women in candomblé and related Afro-Atlantic spiritual traditions. What roles are played by female divinities, priestesses and women believers in these faiths? How are women’s historical experiences – of slavery, freedom, labor, and family life – remembered and commented upon through spiritual performances?

Short performance by members of Ologundê, followed by conversation among the panelists:

Artists from Ologundê and Brandeis faculty Mark Auslander, Ellen Schattschneider, and Faith Smith.
Cosponsored by the Women’s Studies Research Center

Dance Workshop

Dance Workshop
Friday, October 19
3:30-5 p.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall
Cosponsored by the Department of Music and Romance and Comparative Literature

Learn the capoeira, the maculêlê, and the samba de roda with members
of Ologundé. Explore the traditions of candomblé and maritial arts
through dance.

Sign up for free workshop:

Go to Dance Workshop for more information

World Music Concert

Ologundê: An Afro-Brazilian Journey in Music and Dance
Saturday, October 20

7:00 p.m.
Preconcert Talk:
The Rose Art Museum
"Global Axé: Performing Africa in the Brazilian Diaspora"
With Jason Stanyek
Assistant Professor of Music, Ethnomusicology
New York University
Cosponsored by the Rose Art Museum

8:00 p.m.
Concert
Ologundê: An Afro-Brazilian Journey in Music and Dance
Slosberg Recital Hall

Brandeis tickets:
781-736-3400
Tickets are $25/$15
Series subscription rates available

For more information
781-736-4867