A toast to Brazil’s Azorean arts
EN SEADA DE BRITO (Brazil): On a sunny plaza looking out on the southern Atlantic, girls in green and red traditional skirts and boys in black pants and vests perform dances that travelled thousands of miles over that ocean more than two centuries ago.
The dancing is part of a festival held every November in southern Brazil to celebrate the culture of the Azores, the Portuguese island chain that lies in the mid-Atlantic.
In the mid-18th century, several families from the archipelago migrated to settle on the coast of Brazil’s Santa Catarina and the festival reflects the resulting mix of Azorean culture and African traditions encountered in Brazil.
During the two-day festival, held this year in Enseada de Brito, artisans showcase traditional crafts, including lace making and pottery.
The communities of Santa Catarina have even preserved some artisanal methods since lost in the Azores themselves. Maria da Gloria
Viana, a 68-year-old lace-maker, has travelled back to the island chain to teach the craft she learned in Brazil.
At the climax of the festival, a couple dressed in red robes and wearing crowns that represent the Portuguese emperor and his wife lead a colourful parade of attendants for a Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary
Church, wedged between emerald hills and the sea.
After the service, festival-goers pour out of the church to dance around the St. Sebastian pole while it is carried through town. The 10-metre-long wooden pole is decorated with local flowers and palm fronds. While it is paraded around, many drink “consertada”, a mix of coffee, cinnamon and the Brazilian sugarcane liquor called cachaca. When the pole is finally laid down, people surround it to pull off the flowers and make their requests to St. Sebastian, known locally for helping those who are single find their match.