Renata Rosa

influences of the outback's popular culture.

Born in Sao Paulo, the composer and musician has gathered a vast array

of rhythmical, poetical structures, canons and voice dialogues from

the grassroot music of the Northeast. Her songs are inspired by

the Maracatu Rural, the Coco and the Cavalo Marinho, amongst others,

and reveal the richness of these traditions, exposing an authentic

repertoire made up of her own compositions, young and old composers

as well as songs that are now in the public domain.

Listening to Renata Rosa is a groundbreaking trip into the timeless

world of the Caboclos, the Native Indians and the Africans of Brazil.

Renata Rosa's performance intertwines the best of the Northeast music

with its dances. The power within the chant is a physical consequence

of the dance, and in some songs the stage ground actually becomes

a percussion instrument, as it is stomped by the artists. Renata plays

the "rabeca" (the traditional brazilian fiddle), alongside her

musicians, Seu Luis Paixao, a native master of this traditional fiddle,

a "viola" (a rare kind of acoustic guitar), 2 percussionists and

a bass guitar.

Renata has just released an outstanding debut album "Zunido da Mata",

produced by Mestre Ambrosio's musicians. After touring and teaching

her art in Italy, USA and Canada, Renata Rosa and band is now ready

to hit international roads, opening new horizons for Brazilian music.

Ms Rosa will teach the Samba de Coco, which is a variation of the Coco.

The origin of Coco lays on the meeting between the native Brazilian

culture and the central African culture, which came with the slaves to

the Northeast of Brazil and involves the circular dance that sights

the ground. The dance has a variety of steps, which the function is

the percussion and are connect to the poetry. Traditionally, the dance

is connected to the construction of houses made by clay and straw. The

owner of the house calls the people of the community to do the Coco

inside the house on the clay floor. While everyone is dancing, singing

and making percussion sounds with their feet, the clay is flattened to

ground level. Renata's workshop will work with the circular dance and

the relationship between the dance, the feet percussion and the poetic

aspects of the music.

Renata Rosa, musician, singer, poet and researcher, was born in

Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1973. She is part of the "Maracatu de Baque

Solto Estrela de Ouro de Aliança", as Dama do Cacho, one of the

responsibles for the evolution of the maracatu - a traditional carnival

parade from the State of Pernambuco (NE), in which dance, improvised

poetry and music are included. "Maracatu" aggregates elements from

black, indigenous and iberic culture. She also conducts the Boi

da Gurita Seca group, in which she improvises poetry following

the musical and poetic tradition of the "maracatu rural".

She develops research on cultural manifestations of the people from

northeast. Some of her studies are focused on "coco", work chants

and traditional catholic chants such as "Benditos" - which are

performed during the traditional catholic parades - and "excelencia

chants" - chants to prepare the deads' soul to the encounter with

God, usually performed during death-watches.

Renata Rosa has been providing workshops in many Festivals and

Centers: Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio) , Cathedral St John

the Divine (NY), Festival de Inverno de Garanhuns, (PE), Teatro

Arraial (Recife) , Studio Casa de Pedra (Rio de Janeiro),etc.