BalΘ Folcl≤rico da Bahia is the only professional folk dance company in Brazil. Based in Salvador, the company has earned a prestigious reputation throughout the country and abroad. The 23-member troupe of dancers, musicians, and singers performs a repertory of authentic folkloric dance and music based on the three major influences in Brazilian culture: African, Indian - the indigenous population - and Portuguese.
BalΘ Folcl≤rico da Bahia made its European debut in 1992 in Berlin's Alexander Platz Festival. In 1994, the company was a smash hit at the Biennale de la Danse in Lyons, France.
During the 1995-1996 season, BalΘ Folcl≤rico undertook its first tour of the United States with sold-out performances in New York City, Boston, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Berkeley, and Costa Mesa, among other cities. The 1998 tour started February 20 in Phoenix, Az. They'll be in Boston March 12-15; March 27-28 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA; Dayton, Ohio, on April 4, at 8 pm; April 8 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, FL; April 9 at the Carolina Theatre in Durham , NC; April 11 in Newark, NJ and April 16-19 at the Birmingham Festival of the Arts in Birmingham, AL. Some cities are luckier than others...The program will include capoeira, the spectacular Afro-Brazilian martial arts; samba de roda, a precursor of the samba as we know it which survives only in Bahia; maculelΩ, a dramatic dance which originated in the sugar cane plantations of northeastern Brazil and a finale of samba reggae from the songs of Bahia's carnaval -- believe me, this one will have everyone dancing in the aisles...
Here's what some of the critics have to say about BalΘ Folcl≤rico da Bahia:
"With its choreographed carnaval and slave dances, in the capoeira, and, above all, in the gaiety of the samba, this exuberant, uniquely Brazilian group should absolutely be seen in the United States." Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times.
"The slave-time maculelΩ dance, with its crashing martial arts sticks, and the windmilling kicks of a capoeira duel are the sort of thing that can hardly help being show-stopping displays." Elijah Wald, The Boston Globe
"At the end of the BalΘ Folcl≤rico da Bahia's intense, nonstop extravaganza a medley of carnaval songs spilled over across the floodlights and got the audience up and dancing in the aisles. It was a big, loud, sweaty and rambunctious finale to a slick, often surprising show." Octavio Roca, San Francisco Chronicle.
