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Expressions of Brazil: Canadian summer with a Brazilian swing

EXPRESSIONS OF BRAZIL

Canadian summer with a Brazilian swing

By Helena Grant

Harbourfront Centre opens its doors for the second edition of Expressions of Brazil. On July 6, 7, and 8 music performances, exhibit and various activities will be celebrating the 25 years of the great wave of Brazilian immigration to Canada, showcasing what Brazil has to show.

The tastes on the screen. The playful smell on the stage. Colours in the parties, with the family, and between friends. It’s carnival, drums, chorinho, tambourine, fantasy that mixes up, moves itself, spreads around, gathers, fills up, screams! Brazil is a little bit of that and will be conquering summer at Harbourfront Centre during Expressions of Brazil, celebrating Brazilian arts with Toronto & GTA audience and the many other cultures present here.

Expecting thousands of people, Expressions of Brazil programming will bring FREE workshops, films, concerts, parties and art exhibitions. It will be 26 hours of tropicalism to light up Toronto’s summer even further!

For the event organizers, co-produced by the Harbourfront Centre – journalist Cecilia Queiroz from Puente (Brazil) and actress Barbara de la Fuente, from Southern Mirrors (Canada), it is very important to produce an exclusively Brazilian weekend at the most important cultural centre of Canada.

For that reason, Expressions events highlight the interaction among friends and family, without putting aside the simplest way of learning: playing. The thematic workshops geared to children and also to adults highlight activities such as peteka and soccer, props made with recyclable materials, capoeira, and dance.

 

In the music realm, the organizers are bringing to the Harbourfront stages concerts with rhythm, tradition and diverse styles. The Brothers of Brazil band, with the brothers Supla and Joao, come with a completely new style within the Brazilian musical landscape, where bossa nova and samba compound with rock and funk. Their work has been conquering fans in North America, and they have performed in large festivals such as the Rock in Rio in Portugal and, in Brazil, in the SWU Music and the Planeta Terra.

And as Expressions of Brazil purpose is to provide diverse cultural experiences, the band “Maria Bonita and The Band” will make the audience dance forro pe de serra, a rhythm originated in the arid northeast of Brazil that has its roots in African and European traditions.
Clapping hands, singing and dancing, the “move & shake it” session continues with the Roda de Samba band, led by Betty Santos. A stimuli to informal interaction between the audience and one of the most popular Brazilian music styles.

At Expressions the revelers will enjoy a typical Carnaval Ball with the colourful and funny costumes (but you don’t need to wear one, come as you are!)

And speaking of parties and what people wear, we will also have a fashion show at Expressions. Beauty with sustainability is Brazilian designer Baby Steinberg’s motto, transforming materials such as plastic bags, coffee filters, and surgical masks in Eco-Friendly creations. Another Brazilian designer, Clarice Michelon, brings together contradictory elements in her creations aligning Brazilian crafts with luxurious haut couture materials. The results are astonishing, colourful, and can be worn by anybody!

In the contemporary arts groove, two artists display their work at Expressions of Brazil with varied styles and where the colour explosion is a common manifesto. Master in Musicology by Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Odina Grant Marzano’s art brings the sound sensitivity in it, now manifested in the use of coloured pencil in paper. Simple elements give form to tone creations that surprise the colours and her abstract strokes only find “objectivity” through the public eyes’ interpretation. Beto Jardim’s work is based on Picasso, Braque e Leger’s cubism, but with the seductive shapes, strokes, and curves that portray the vibration of his native city, Salvador da Bahia. In this exhibition, a collection of paintings inspired in Studio 54 New York’s vibe and that will travel to Miami, after the Expressions of Brazil, for the next edition of “Art Basel” – Art Fusion Gallery.

Expressions of Brazil brings a film program in partnership with BRAFFTV – Brazilian Film & TV Festival of Toronto®, that celebrates its 6th year in 2012. The curator is Kátia Coelho, photography director with more than 30 awards from various international festivals. The selection will include movies such as the documentary “Estamira”, winner of 22 awards in main film festivals in Brazil, Cuba, Marseille, Vienna, Miami, Toulouse and Texas. “The Oyster and the Wind” with its 17 awards and special award for actress Leandra Leal, and “Foolish Heart” of the well-known Hector Babenco. One of the directors who launched the Brazilian cinema on the internacional market in works such as “Pixote” and the “Kiss of the Spider Woman” – the first independent production of the Brazilian cinema in English, won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar® and also at Cannes, received many awards and nominations at various other film festivals around the world.

Expressions of Brazil highlights include:

– A rocking bossa-nova/punk performance by the funky Brothers of Brazil;

– An eco-fashion show with renowned fashion designer Baby Steinberg and Clarice Michelon;

– A late-night Brazilian Carnaval Ball complete with intricate masquerade costumes and the energetic sounds of Brazilian party music;

– Screenings of favourite Brazilian films in partnership with Brazilian Film Festival of Toronto (BRAFFTV);

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Where: Harbourfront Centre is located at 235 Queens Quay West in the heart of downtown Toronto’s waterfront.

When: July 6-8

Visit harbourfrontcentre.com/summer or call the Information Hotline at 416-973-4000.

 

ABOUT EXPRESSIONS OF BRAZIL

Expressions of Brazil is a festival created by executive producer Barbara de la Fuente (Southern Mirrors), and associate producer Cecilia Queiroz (Puente). Celebrating the best in Brazilian arts, this festival aims to expand perceptions about Brazil and showcase the diversity of Brazilian culture.

www.southernmirrors.com

 

 

 

 

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