Image source: Prefeitura de Olinda/Wikimedia Commons (above)
“The Frevo Tradition and Pernambucan Cultural Identity in Recife, Brazil” is an ethnographic project by Dr. Kate Spanos, who has received a postdoctoral Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to study frevo dance and music in Brazil. She is based at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife for six months, starting in January 2018. The project is an extension of Kate’s dissertation research, which focused on similar themes in dance, music, and festival on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
This website blog features observations, photos, audio recordings, videos, and other resources gathered during Kate’s fieldwork in 2018.
Published articles:
- A Dance of Resistance from Recife, Brazil: Carnivalesque Improvisation in Frevo by Kathleen A. Spanos, Dance Research Journal, volume 51, number 3 (2019).
- Dancing between Pedagogy and Performance: Guerreiros do Passo and the Case of Brazilian Frevo by Kathleen A. Spanos and Amilcar Almeida Bezerra, Dance Chronicle, volume 43, number 1 (2020).
- Frevo: A Reflection on Dances of Resistance during Times of Protest by Kate Spanos, Smithsonian Folklife Festival Blog, September 2020.