This course will take students on a deep dive into the rich worlds of Afro-Brazilian music and culture. Unpacking quintessentially Brazilian forms, such as samba and bossa nova, we will discover a complex (and sometimes uncomfortable) combination of African- and European/American-derived elements. Next, we will home in on the music of Candomblé. In this Afro-Brazilian religious form, students will discover direct sonic and cultural connections to African practices and trace close links to other communities in the African diaspora. We will also focus on capoeira, a Brazilian art combining music, dance, and martial arts, and on the musics of carnival in Bahia--the source and center of Afro-Brazilian culture. Throughout the semester, we will consider music's roles in identity formation, in the making of national stories, and in social and cultural resistance to those narratives. Students will experience Afro-Brazilian music culture through listening, study, and embodied engagement (i.e., music making and moving to it).
There are no academic or music-skills prerequisites for this course.
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