Review of Samba Fogo

Review of Samba Fogo’s concert, Ouça - Listen
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 In every community, there are many fine ensembles dedicated to presenting the cultures of dance, music and folk traditions from various countries and ethnic diasporas. Some operate more loosely and casually than their more organized counterparts, which still embody a distinct passionately amateur flavor even as they are formally constituted as a nonprofit institution.

In Salt Lake City, as previously noted, Samba Fogo started out nearly a quarter of a century ago as a volunteer community ensemble of people dedicated to learning about the Afro-Brazilian dance and musical culture. It retains that fundamental character of cultural accessibility where any individual can come to the organization without any intimidation or hesitation, even if they have little or no professional performing experience. As it has cultivated a repertoire of works that respects the historical and cultural integrity of the songs, dances and rhythmic elements through extensive research, Samba Fogo has risen steadily as a performing arts company with solid professional credentials.

Indeed, Samba Fogo is a master case example of synergy in the performing arts as an open community group. The group has never performed better than in its latest Ouça (Listen) concert. The closing night audience at the Jeanne Wagner Theatre in the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts consistently roared its approval through the 19 numbers in both acts for a program that ran two hours.

The company polished some of its best known pieces from its repertoire to a dazzling quality while presenting several new works that represented just how much progress the group has made artistically. No doubt the audience relished the full-throated theatricality of the fire-spinning ritual dances performed by Lorin Hansen, Samba Fogo’s artistic director, as well as Sara Caldiero, Indigo Cook, Mallory Howard, Chaska Lance and Dawn Levingston. The drumline continues to grow in numbers and technical prowess. Audience members also were enthralled by the guest musicians, including strings, brass and woodwind, as well as Solange Gomes on lead vocals and George Edgar Brown on guitar and vocals who also composes original arrangements for Samba Fogo. Mason Aeschbacher kept the tightly paced momentum as musical director.

There were numerous highlights. As lead singer, Gomes transfers easily from one role to another. She evokes a dramatic stage presence, a nuanced feel for the yearning need to reconnect to cultural roots and the exotic sultry tones of ritual and celebration. The transition from the opening’s otherworldly serenity feature the four sisters who signify the earth’s elements to the bracing feel of Proteja (Protect), a dance about Ogum, the vicious, bloodthirsty, take-no-prisoners god of iron, technology and war, was a masterstroke. Many of the dance numbers highlighted legends of Afro-Brazilian deities of nature (the Orixá, pronounced as oh-ree-sha).

In the first act, two examples of the Malandro style samba dance were outstanding tributes to the genre. These included Hansen’s performance in Jogue (Play), set to Noites Cariocas by Jacob do Bandolim, an original song recorded in 1960 that is a definitive example of the virtuosic choro song style punctuated by syncopated, happy-sounding rhythms.

That was followed by Conecte (Connect), a choreographed samba piece set to the beautiful, refined Preciso Me Encotrar (I Need to Find Myself) by Agenor de Oliveira (Cartola, 1908-1980), one of the most hauntingly profound songs of samba ever heard.

Likewise, cultural traditions were given a deeply respectful and exhilarating performance in the second act. This included Lembre (Remember), a rich tribute to Blocos Afros, the community drum groups and social justice leagues that showcase Africa culture in the Brazilian state of Bahia in Salvador. In the samba reggae tradition, there is an encyclopedia of drum breaks, which arise from constant musical experimentation. Notably, it is the blocos innovations which have influenced Axé music, a predominant cultural lifeforce for Samba Fogo and other groups.

In the closing number featuring the group’s school anthem Enredo do Samba Fogo, written by Brown, the dancers were resplendent in full carnaval regalia – putting the best mark on a show that proves why these traditions always should be on everyone’s cultural map and their value for preservation.

For more information about classes and a summer camp for children, ages 5 and older, see the Samba Fogo website.