My intention has been off to a slow start, thanks to a new job and being too exhausted to stay up past 8:30pm, let alone get myself to (typically) late-hour dance parties. Last night, I finally made it to Dance Party Number 1 - a forró dance at Esquina Tango. Forro is a regional partner dance from northeastern Brazil. You can watch a video here that shows some more modern forró - traditionally, forró has less turns and is more close partner dance. I find the follower form to be tricky - the follower puts their arm all the way up and over the lead's shouder, placing the follower's hand on their opposite shoulder (like a one-armed hug). It's meant to keep you very close to your partner, but if your partner is much taller than you, it can be almost impossible to achieve.
All of my main dance passions are afro-brazilian based, and forró is no exception. I love the closeness, the improvisation, the music. Last night they had a live band - here's a video of them at Esquina Tango, performing some coco music earlier this year - and the feeling of dancing to live music rises well above a recording for me, every time.
I was honored to be joined by my friend Connor Rivera for the evening - he hadn't danced forró before, but jumped right in and after a short lesson, proved himself a wonderful and enthusiastic dance partner. Thanks, Connor!
Dance Party Number One was a success - looking forward to number Two on Sunday evening!