Bumba-meu-boi

Bumba-meu-boi ceramic figurines from Pernambuco.

The bumba-meu-boi is a very popular and widespread comic-dramatic dance, which tells the story of the death and resurrection of an ox. It started at the end of the 18th century in the coastal sugar plantations and cattle ranches of northeastern Brazil and from there it spread to the north and south. Its name comes from the verb bumbar, meaning to beat up or against, and the expression is chanted by the crowd as an invitation for the ox (the men under the ox costume) to charge against them.

Bumba-meu-boi woodcut from Pernambuco.

It is a parade of human and animal characters, and fantastic creatures from Brazilian Indian mythology, such as the Caipora, to the sounds of music and singing. It takes place during the Christmas season. There are usually a group of singers and the "chamador" or caller, who introduces the characters with different songs. The instruments used are the acoustic guitar, Brazilian tambourine, tamborim and accordion. The bumba-meu-boi appears in northern Brazil as boi-bumbß and in the island of Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil, as boi-de-mamπo. Mamπo is the Brazilian word for papaya. It is believed that originally a green papaya was used as the ox head, and that's where the name apparently comes from.

We also have a page on the boi-bumbß of the Amazon.

Boi-de-mamπo costume from the island of Santa Catarina.

Music & Folklore