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Emerging from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the late 2000s, the Passinho dance style was declared an official state cultural heritage this year, not only celebrating its artistic expression, but also legitimizing and empowering practitioners of the high-energy dance craze. Passinho attracts millions of followers on social media the world over. Lucrecia Franco spent a day with one dance company in the Penha neighborhood. Take a look.
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents some information about and YouTube videos of Brazil's Passinho dancing.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
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INFORMATION ABOUT PASSINHO
Excerpt #1
AI Overview [result-August 21, 2025]
"Passinho: the Sugarloaf all-stars of Rio's new dance craze ...
Passinho, in Portuguese, translates to "little
step." It refers to a Brazilian street dance style that originated in the
favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It's characterized by fast, intricate footwork and
incorporates elements from various dance forms like breakdancing, samba, frevo,
and capoeira.
[…]
More Details:
Origin: Passinho emerged in the early 2000s in the
favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where young people combined different dance styles
to create a unique and expressive form.
Style: It's known for its rapid footwork, staccato
waist twists, and the way dancers often look down at their feet.
Cultural Significance: Passinho has become more than
just a dance; it's a cultural movement that symbolizes resilience, creativity,
and unity among young people in the favelas.
Recognition: The dance has gained international
recognition and was even declared an intangible cultural heritage by state
legislators in Rio de Janeiro.”…
Excerpt #2
From
" "Passinho the Brazilian dance literally means little steps or
small steps and describes the short, fast, twisting style of a street dance
that grew from the favela’s youths across not just the whole country but across
the world even being shown during the Olympic opening ceremonies in Brazil and
the UK." -Zona Franca ©️ Renato Mangolin
From obscurity via stigmatization to international fame, in a short amount of time, this iconic speedy foot-worked dance has grown. It may well have been around and known as ‘funk parties’ since the early 2000s but it took dedicated dance troups to spread the movement globally.
During the early days dancers learned by word of mouth about one another and baile funk (funk party) became locales for inter-favela dance duels. While baile funk parties are thought of as the birthplace of Passinho, many battles actually occurred on a small side road by a shopping Mall of all places. This historical spot was where many dancers gained their reputations, battling in one of the many informal rodas (circles) formed every Saturday.
By 2006 dance groups were founded but by 2008 a dancer called Beiçola from Jacarezinho posted a YouTube video of him and his friends dancing.
The video spread rapidly, inspiring favela youth across the city to use social media to share similar dance videos, and Passinho was transformed almost overnight from an insulated dance to a full-on cultural phenomenon.
In 2011, the first organized Batalha do Passinho (Passinho Battle), took place at the SESC cultural center in Tijuca. These battles legitimized Passinho as a dance style. It began to gain international exposure when a group of dancers from the Passinho battle performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Then it spread across the world and saw elements of it utlised in pop videos and films. During the 2014 World Cup, the dance was featured in the BBC‘s official video montage with the New York Times newspaper calling it the “soundtrack of Rio.”
So what does this dance look like? literally meaning “little
step,” is rapid foot movements, sharp twists from the waist. A fusion of
breakdancing and funk is added with traditional Brazilian moves like samba,
frevo, and capoeira. The musical style included Funk carioca, a fusion of
American funk beats and Afro-Brazilian rhythms that originated in the 70s and
80s. Performed unchoreographed, with dancers improvising on the spot to the
music. dancers gaze at the floor rather than looking forward or up which in the
world of dance is not seen.
That may well be because, at its very core, the movement has
been politized as well as sexualised and has even been homophobic; because of
this, it has been in the past, censored. It had even faced criminalization and
criticism for lyrics that push the limits of social acceptability in terms of
violence, drugs, and sexual references.
But the artists say that they are speaking from their
reality and point to other musical genres that also include taboo themes, but
never seem to face the same magnitude of backlash. For them, Passinho is an
expression of the criminalization of poverty.
[…]
Up until 2009, in the Rio de Janeiro state, the baile funk
movement was criminalised under law 3410 which restricted the organization of
baile funks by requiring that organizers install metal detectors and only host
Bailes with the presence of the Military Police as well as other rules. In 2009
a victory against this earlier ruling was made by the passage of state law
5543, which officially recognizes funk as a cultural movement and prohibits
discrimination against funk. For the dancers and their peers, Passinho is still
inherently a political statement, an assertion of pride for both black and
Favela culture within a country that historically stigmatizes both.
[…]
Inherent to the Passinho movement is a sense of community
and belonging. Many dancers refer to their peers as “family” and veteran
dancers feel a sense of responsibility to guide the next generation, not only
in dance movements but in life choices.
But while Passinho is gaining exposure on the stage and in cinema, artists are still fighting for recognition in the formalised art world and for the facilities to train. Many performance dance groups, still do not have a studio space of their own to train in. Passinho’s history is far from complete, in fact, many dancers say the movement is only growing."...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
The narration in these videos is in Portuguese. English captions are given in these videos.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #1
This video is found at the top of this post.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Brazilian
dance craze created by youths in Rio’s favelas is declared cultural heritage
AP Archive,
(15 May 2024)
"FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4494357
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -
11 April 2024
1. Various of dancers from passinho group Oz Cria recording
a video of them performing in Rocinha favela to post on internet
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Duque de Caxias, Brazil -
06 May 2024
2. Dancers from the group Passinho Carioca performing at a
cultural complex to kids from Duque de Caxias municipal schools
3. Dancer Nayara Costa da Silva performing
4. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Nayara Costa da Silva, 23 year-old
Passinho Carioca dancer and director:
++IMAGES ON SOUNDBITE++
“I'm a young woman who was saved through funk, through
“passinho.” I come from a family where everyone has been involved in drug
trafficking, which is our reality in the favelas, unfortunately. But I believe
that just as I changed my life, everyone can change too.”
5. Various of dancers performing on the stage
6. Thiago de Paula, 35 year-old, Director of Passinho
Carioca: ++IMAGES OVER SOUNDBITE++
“For me, to have decreed passinho as a cultural and
immaterial heritage of Rio de Janeiro brings a very significant value to these
people, because it will certainly change the lives of many people, it will be
seen as a law and not just as a cultural movement.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -
17 April 2024
++NIGHT SHOTS++
7. Various of passinho dancers from the group Oz Cria
performing in the street of Rocinha favela
STORYLINE:
It all started with nifty leg movements, strong steps
backwards and forwards, paced to Brazilian funk music.
Then it adopted moves from break dancing, samba, capoeira, frevo — whatever was around.
The passinho, a dance style created in the 2000s by kids in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, in March was declared an “intangible cultural heritage” by legislators in the state of Rio, bringing recognition to a cultural expression born in the sprawling working-class neighborhoods.
The creators of passinho are young kids with plenty of flexibility — and no joint problems.
They started trying out new moves at home and then showing them off at funk parties in their communities and, crucially, sharing them on the internet.
The style started spreading to other favelas and became a means for youths to move seamlessly between communities controlled by rival drug gangs.
It offered young men from favelas a new way out, besides falling into a life of crime or the all-too-common pipe dream of becoming a soccer star, like Nayara Costa da Silva, a dancer and director from the group Passinho Carioca in the Penha complex of favelas.
“I'm a young woman who was saved through funk, through “passinho,” said da Silva, after her presentation for kids from Rio de Janeiro municipal schools.
"I come from a family where everyone has been involved in drug trafficking, which is our reality in the favelas, unfortunately," she added.
Passinho was declared state heritage by Rio’s legislative assembly through a law proposed by Rio state legislator Veronica Lima.
AP video by Lucas Dumphreys and Mario Lobao."
SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 -
Osmose Filmes, Apr 16, 2014 #passinho #favela #documentario
Passinho Dance Off by Osmose Filmes Oficial Trailer
Directed by Emílio Domingos 2013
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 -
Trippin, Sep 18, 2023
This short focuses on one particular group performing the Brazilian passinho against the backdrop of its home: the favelas. Through dialogue and dance, this film connects the dots between baile funk, passinho and the working-class neighbourhoods of Brazil.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #5-
Red Bull Dance, Apr 2, 2025 #redbulldance #givesyouwiiings #dance
Takin' passinho to new heights with Brazil's finest! Final
battle of the night & these crews came ready. Get ready for an all out
showcase! 🇧🇷
Rewind to the first-ever Red Bull Rabsicada! Rhythm & flows. All out energy. Shout out to everyone who came through. And a big congrats to this year's winners André Oliveira , Peterson & VN Rodrigues 👏 Way to represent!
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