When people think of Brazil what usually springs to mind is football, carnaval and caipirinhas. Thankfully my evening last night considered of just the latter two – dance and drink!
Let’s face it – who can throw themselves into a sweaty samba session without at least one cocktail?
Obviously not me. Nor the rest of the Motley Crue of bloggers who joined the fray and danced the night away.
But before our reward (and physical torture) we watched the professionals do it properly.
A cultural experience
14 men, mostly topless, and in fact wearing little more than a small pair of shorts – which I found highly symbolic and cultural -running, jumping, somersaulting…PERFORMING!
I hardly knew where to look… It was an attack on the senses – a blur of men, moving across a stage, accompanied by drums, strings and the fabulous Alexia Falcão Lopes whose vocals are highly impressive.
Us poor audience members really struggled to hit those low notes when we are (naturally) encouraged to join in with the clapping and singing.
A lot of the audience seem to really struggle to concentrate in this how, with several people getting up and leaving – unless there was a secret bar outside the auditorium, you don’t leave a performance! It’s a sad reflection of the times we live in that people can’t go 90 minutes without having to pop out to look at their phone, go to the loo or whatever they apparently need to do.
But I digress… Let’s talk about Uiara Cristina Ferreira and her role as the one female dancer in the group. This girl can shake it – and I don’t just mean her hair. In fact, all of the dancers are unbelievable – they are so flexible and the fluidity of their movements is almost impossible to comprehend. Each scene flows seamlessly into the next, telling the story of Brazil, her people and their history as slaves.
it’s fast, colourful and musical – at times it’s far too loud – but the beat does take hold of you and you’re suddenly up on your feet, rolling your shoulders and shaking your hips. Us white girls might struggle to shake it properly, but we gave it a bloody good try!
My friend Cristina – who has professional dance training – was mightily impressed:
“The whole package. A truly amazing show full of imagination smoothly melting styles from the past and the present in an exhilarating bliss of dancing and music. And the dancers!!! Omg! The dancers!!”
Mas que nada
So after watching muscly men spin on their heads and perform physical feats that can only be described as impossible, it was with some trepidation that we headed for some much-needed Dutch courage… in the form of Brazilian Caipirinhas (and some crisps).
Yet (after two cocktails) we joined in with gusto and the cast were lovely, teaching us fancy footwork, sexy samba and dirty dancing. My God we were dripping with sweat – all of us shaking our booty and swinging our arms about.
Oh look how much fun we’re having, drinks in hand…
I must say that it was a fantastic evening – devilish dancers, sexy samba and cheeky cocktils – and I do love hanging out with the lovely Theatre Bloggers…
I won’t mention that it took me TWO HOURS to get home because of the tube strike…
My Stage is the World 
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