-snip-
This video shows a group of Afro-Brazilians dancing at a club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the 2004 Hip Hop record "I'll Be Around" by Ceelo Green, featuring Timbaland.
This same video was posted on Feb. 22, 2016 on the Facebook Video page for Ratchet Ent under the heading "Aint nothing like a hyped up party group dance”.
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of "Charme", the name that has been given to Afro-Brazilian Hip Hop, Soul, and R&B dancing that is heavily influenced by African American culture.
This post also presents several online excerpts about Charme, including advertisements about Rio de Janeiro tours to the nightclub for a Charme experience. Those ads indicated that those tours are no longer available, but no dates are given for when those tours ended. Furthermore, those ad give no reasons why those tours were ended.
This post also includes selected YouTube comments and one Facebook comment about that Rio de Janeiro dance or nightclub experience.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Charme's choreographers and dancers. Thanks to all those who are featured in this embedded video, and thanks to the publisher of that video on YouTube and on Facebook. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/10/selected-2016-facebook-discussion.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Selected 2016 Facebook Discussion Thread Comments About Black Line Dancing (with a focus on adding your own "flavor" to the basic line dance routine)"
EXCERPT FROM SEVERAL ONLINE PAGES
Online Excerpt #1
https://www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/the-undeniable-charm-of-brazils-latest-dance-craze/ The Undeniable Charm of Brazil’s Latest Dance Craze" by Catherine Osborn, November 1, 2017
Baile Charme is a unique expression of American, Brazilian and black identity.
[...]
The [Brazilian] term charme, applied to American R&B that’s been digested and transformed, Rio-style, into a scene with its own aesthetics, moves and culture, was first used by a DJ named Corello who played a circuit dubbed the Black Rio Movement in the 1970s. Although segregation was never legally mandated in Brazil, black social clubs boomed on the city’s outskirts during this time as safe and affirming nightlife options for black cariocas, as Rio natives are known.
In the late ’70s, disco sped up the rhythm. To break up the faster songs, in the early ’80s Corello started to reserve a sequence mid-set for Marvin Gaye and other soul songs under 90 beats per minute, announcing, “It’s time for charm (charminho); move your body nice and slow (devagarinho).” Partygoers adopted moves from the corresponding music videos, primarily turntable-facing line dances done in unison (think the electric slide), a style for which charme became shorthand.
Fluency in different dance subcultures has long allowed Rio residents to circulate widely through the music-rich city, escaping the rigid social and racial hierarchies of daytime. This is clear in what choreographer Marcus Azevedo calls “the four pillars of charme: music, dance, fashion and respect.”
Cues for clothing and hairstyles came from R&B musicians and shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which broadcast the life of a well-to-do black family to a Brazilian audience 20 years before a primetime national sitcom would do the same.
Over time, charme culture “Brazilianized,” said Azevedo, with original choreography that sent hips and feet moving faster and looser than in the genre’s American cousin. Dances multiplied around Rio through the early ’90s, when Brazil’s black political activists fought a heated national battle for affirmative action. In 1994 charme organizers got authorization for weekly use of the Madureira flyover.
Another reason charme flourished is that it requires no training or partner; anyone can follow along. That said, the dances, or bailes, are places to see and be seen, so classes help adepts polish their routines. Azevedo leads one of these at a rec center in Madureira.
[...]
On a recent Saturday, Rodrigues joined 12 other dancers in one of Azevedo’s midmorning classes. The neighborhood around the center was bustling — it’s an economic hub of Rio’s working-class north side — but tense; people rushed through Saturday errands amid a recession that has dashed hopes of an easier life. News of shootouts the previous night between drug traffickers and police streamed from car stereos, and a blazing heat signaled the arrival of spring. The leafy rec center was a refuge.
To start, Azevedo led the pack of 18- to 56-year-olds through stomps, full body shakes, and a knee-twisting jump called the Brooklyn Dance to TLC’s “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg.” Charme is a “four-wall dance,” he explained: its moves can be repeated facing the front, the back, the left, and the right of a hypothetical room.
After the Saturday class, Azevedo chatted with students. Charme was in everyone’s plans that evening. Jessica Oliveira, a telemarketer from the Maré favela, would join her mom at a monthly charme street party in the city center, then meet up with Roberta Silva, a mohawked office assistant, at the overpass later that night. Rodrigues would be there too — though he was going to hit the barbershop first. He decided to wear an Afro two years ago, after seeing the style at the Madureira baile; now he browses black hairstyles on Instagram to show his neighborhood barber before deciding on a trim.
Over lunch, Azevedo said the only thing charme lacks is music that speaks of local experiences.
“We’ve built a whole dance repertoire around New Jack Swing” — a drum machine-laced fusion of hip-hop and dance-pop from the ’80s and ’90s that includes the Fresh Prince theme song — “but those songs don’t tell details of Brazilian realities the way that samba, Rio funk, and Brazilian rap do,” he said.
Many say the language difference, rather than acting as a barrier, inserts charme in a global black community. For dancer Jader Gama, being part of this community means dancing but also taking up activism about racial inequality in Brazil’s criminal justice system. For Rodrigues, it includes how he wears his hair.
“It’s part of the black diaspora’s worldwide art of sampling elements from one another,” said Gama.
Indeed, charme often appears in dialogue with other Brazilian genres. Prominent Rio funk artist and New Jack Swing devotee MC Smith just had Azevedo choreograph a charme portion of his newest music video, and a staple charme routine is choreographed to a song that remixes Brazilian rapper Rappin Hood with MPB troubadour Caetano Veloso.
[...]
When Brazil’s Deborah Colker designed last year’s Olympic opening ceremony as an homage to Brazilian dance, samba and traditional maracatu percussion shared the stage with over 1,000 line dancers in Afros, warm-up jackets, high-top haircuts and sneakers, in tribute to Rio charme.
Later on that Saturday night, Gama, Rodrigues, Oliveira and Azevedo reunited under the golden light of streetlamps outside the baile. Inside, swiveling spotlights spun purple, red, blue and green hues across the dancers. Although Madureira’s tough cityscape was on full display, with buses hurtling by on the elevated highways that flank the party arena, on the dance floor friends greeted each other with high-fives.
First-timers watched as advanced dancers inserted joking theatrics between the swinging and popping of seemingly every joint. Oliveira danced with friends from class and from other more baile encounters.
Stepping out, she explained that in charme, community is key: “The star dancers are the ones who are most in sync with others.”
Osborn is a journalist based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-snip-
For the cultural record, I'm very interested in current information about whether Afro-Brazilians still dance Charme.
Please share information in this pancocojams comment section below and/or or in the comment section for the YouTube videos that are cited in this post. Thanks!
****
Online Excerpt #2
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This page presents information about a Rio De Janeiro tour that included charme nightclub dancing. As is the case with other ads of these tours, no date is given for the ads, but it appears that these tours are no longer available.]
From https://www.musement.com/us/rio-de-janeiro/bailes-of-madureira-the-charme-dance-in-rio-de-janeiro-27679/ [no publishing date included]
"Bailes of Madureira: The Charme dance in Rio de Janeiro
What to expect
The roots of the Charme Dance came out of the tremendous influence of African-American Soul and Funk music and Afro-Brazilian music. The Bailes of Madureira represent the parties where one can get a taste of the African-Brazilian cultural experience.
Every Saturday the Espaço Cultural Rio Hip-Hop Charme, or
Viaduto de Madureira as it’s more commonly known, hosts the most important
Charme Dance party in the city. Originating from the Carnival bloco ‘Pagodão
Madureira’ created by friends known as Leno, Pedro, Edinho and Xandoca in May
1990, local entertainment businessman Cesar Atáide invited the group to
establish Projeto Charme na Rua, a hip hop, soul and R&B party for the
neighborhood.
Language: English , Italian , French , Spanish ,
German , Portuguese
Do this because
Taste the Afro-Brazilian culture
Discover the Rio de Janeiro nightlife
Enjoy music, dancing and much more
Availability:
Saturdays
Mobile voucher accepted
Duration: up to 5 hours
from: $71.49
Sorry, it's sold out
Unfortunately all tickets have been sold out for this event"
****
Online excerpt #3
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This page presents information about a Rio De Janeiro tour that included charme nightclub dancing. It appears that these tours are no longer available.]
From https://www.mylittleadventure.com/best-things/rio-de-janeiro/tours/bailes-of-madureira-the-charme-dance-in-rio-de-janeiro-rYoMl5Ui "Bailes of Madureira: The Charme Dance in Rio de Janeiro"
"ABOUT THIS ACTIVITY
Every Saturday the Espaço Cultural Rio Hip-Hop Charme, or
Viaduto de Madureira as it’s more commonly known, hosts the most important
Charme Dance party in the city. Originating from the Carnival bloco ‘Pagodão
Madureira’ created by friends known as Leno, Pedro, Edinho and Xandoca in May
1990, local entertainment businessman Cesar Atáide invited the group to
establish Projeto Charme na Rua, a hip hop, soul and R&B party for the
neighborhood.
With Atáide’s influence the group secured the space under the Viaduto Negrão de Lima and using seminal funk rapper MC Marlboro’s sound system, the team launched the now legendary event on the first Saturday of Carnival in 1993.
While soul and R&B had been played in Rio clubs since the 1960s, the Viaduto de Madureira events were the first to popularize the genre and create an focal point for Carioca hip hop and charme, (the Rio manifestation of North American R&B). Understanding the importance of the events for the spread of African-Brazilian culture in Rio, the state government officially recognized the parties in 1995 renaming it The Rio Charme Project.
In contrast to the baile funks, with their glorification of gang violence and often tense atmospheres, the Baile do Viaduto is an urban street party with a palpably positive vibe. Starting at 10PM, things start to get going at 1AM and in the run up to Racionais MC’s performance DJs spin a mix of hip hop and R&B by national and international artists such as 50 Cent, 509-E, Beyonce, Orixás and BNegão while street dancers bust a groove on stage.
A crush follows the show. Barriers fall down as fans clamor
to be photographed with the MCs backstage. The anarchic chaos befits the huge
popularity of the group who, as pioneers of Brazilian hip hop, are totally
befitting for the Baile do Viaduto.
[...]
This experience isn't bookable for now."
****
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g303506-d11471512-Baile_de_Madureira_Charme_Dance_Party_in_Rio_with_Transfer-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of.html "Baile de Madureira: Charme Dance Party in Rio with Transfer by Rio Carioca Tours" (2023)
"Bust a move alongside Rio locals during this flexible-length
excursion to the Bailes of Madureira, a regular African-Brazilian dance party
held at the city’s Espaço Cultural Rio Hip-Hop Charme. Mix it up with the
party’s crowd of young, well-dressed locals, enjoying a body-shaking playlist
of American pop, funk, soul and hip-hop blended with an eclectic range of
Brazilian hip-hop and ‘charme’ (local-style R&B). A driver-guide, party
cover charge and round-trip hotel transport are included.
Currently unavailable
This product is unavailable to book."
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SEVERAL ONLINE DISCUSSION THREADS
Except for Discussion thread #1, all of these other discussion threads are given in no particular order.
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only
Discussion thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NpSCLYLfkw "Nameless Line Dance", published by lbwpretty2, Feb. 28, 2016
1. @iayyam, 2016
"These Brazilians kids definitely brought their own flavor to this dance. They killed it."
**
Reply
2. @JessSkubi, 2017
"How did you know they are Brazilian? Just curious."
**
Reply
3. @iayyam, 2019
"@JessSkubi I speak Portuguese and in the beginning of the video the DJ is giving a shout out to Rio de Janeiro...which is in Brazil."
**
4. @chasjohnson2012, 2016
"These kids are awesome!! I've watched the video so many times now and have learned the dance from them. Thanks for sharing! I didn't know they were from Brazil! No wonder they have so much Fiya!!"
**
Reply
5. @iayyam, 2019
"This is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Yes, we are everywhere fam."
6.
"I just found this video on Facebook Saturday; it's from Brazil. The dance originated here in the states--I saw a tutorial for itdating back to 2012--but these young Brazilians brought a real flair to it. This will be my instructional video."
7.
"I just found this video on Facebook Saturday; it's from Brazil. The dance originated here in the states--I saw a tutorial for itdating back to 2012--but these young Brazilians brought a real flair to it. This will be my instructional video."
8. @YourHalfSister, 2016
"+ABN Creator I found this video on Facebook, and one of the girls in the video--with the head wrap--commented. She said they were in Brazil, thanked everyone for complements on the video and apologized for her broken English. (I think she also said was using Google translate to communicate.)"
**
Reply
9. @YourHalfSister, 2016
"+ABN Creator Here's the Facebook link (hope it works here), and the young lady's name is Jessica Olivieria. The thread is still going; she commented as recently as Monday."
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1123619494339222&id=454451501256028&ref=content_filter
**
Reply
10. @josesilva-ii1bf, 2016
"we like soul music too ... since 1970"
Reply
11. @nardao36, 2017
"The dance and original of Rio de Janeiro Brazil we have not only the samba and funk our culture and very big and diversified."
**
12.@JoviMoon, 2016
"I'm a total Johnny Come Lately to this video n dance...just saw it on facebook last night...im totally obsessed! I can't tell u how many times I've played it....I absolutely LOVE IT! It's totally contagious...I wz at work jamming to this style of music n reggae all day long... <3 me some of that Timberland...I gotta learn this dance...I've seen some Saturday Steppin..but this stuff here added some really groovy moves...I mean these kids got it down...i'm sooo jealous...Big Mama LOVES to dance...I could not stop dancing at work...of course while no one wz around..LOL! Thanks for sharing <3"
-snip-
"Saturday Steppin" is one of the names that people in the United States called this line dance in the 1980s or the 1990s.
**
13. @LisaSmith-zj3vh, 2023
"I saw this video on Facebook some years ago. I thought I saved it. I’ve been looking for about 3 weeks and couldn’t find it. I love to watch this! It just makes me happy. Oh girl with the scarf on her head was killing it!
**
14. @blessed2bjj, 2023
"This original version is still 🔥🔥. The version they are doing in America right now doesn’t hit like this one."
****
Discussion Thread #2
From https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1123619494339222&id=454451501256028&ref=content_filter "Aint nothing like a hyped up party group dance",Ratchet Ent, Feb. 22, 2016
1. Douglas Oliveira, 2020
"U guys must know that this is how we dance NeoSoul and RnB music every weekend in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil"
****
Discussion Thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RE9PQ-8slw "Step and Stomp Line Dance", published by William T. Smith, Jr.,Nov. 7, 2011
1. @ricardoamaraloliveira2997, 2020
"Muito Muito BOM
Mandaram Bem
Arrasaram"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
"Very very good
They did well
They killed it"
**
2. @rosemaryjoseribeiro721, 2021
"Amo esse estilo de música.....Rosemary (Brasil)"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
"I love this style of music..."
****
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