Ciranda

views updated

Ciranda

Ciranda, a round dance of Portuguese origin found throughout Brazil in both children's and adult versions. The children's ciranda is a round game with sung verses. The adult version is a group dance performed in a circle around a small ensemble of musicians and a singer. In one common form, dancers hold hands facing the center as they collectively take several steps to the right and one back to the left so that the circle slowly moves counterclockwise. The ensemble usually includes a trumpet or saxophone, a snare drum, a bombo (tenor drum), and a mineiro (metal shaker). The songs are performed in call-and-response form between the mestre (lead singer) and the dancers.

See alsoMusic: Popular Music and Dancexml .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Evandro Rabello, Ciranda: Dança de roda, dança da moda (1979).

Oneyda Alvarenga, Música popular brasileira, 2d ed. (1982), esp. pp. 195-197.

Additional Bibliography

Crook, Larry. Brazilian Music: Northeastern Traditions and the Heartbeat of a Modern Nation. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005.

Murphy, John P. Music in Brazil: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Schreiner, Claus. Música brasileira: A History of Popular Music and the People of Brazil. New York: Marion Boyars, 1993.

                                          Larry N. Crook

More From encyclopedia.com