{"id":30466,"date":"2016-08-18T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=30466"},"modified":"2016-08-20T12:31:48","modified_gmt":"2016-08-20T15:31:48","slug":"the-story-of-passinho-the-favela-dance-that-opened-the-2016-olympics-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=30466","title":{"rendered":"The Story of Passinho, the Favela Dance that Opened the 2016 Olympics [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Friday August 5, millions of people around the world watched as\u00a0passinho dancers took to the stage at the\u00a0Olympic Opening Ceremony<\/a>. This moment, emblematically put to the favela anthem “Rap da Felicidade<\/a>,” signified for many a much-awaited affirmation that passinho has a\u00a0permanent place in\u00a0Brazil’s cultural identity. Passinho has come a long way to get to this point, from near obscurity to stigmatization to international fame, in\u00a0an amount of time that rivals the iconically speedy footwork itself.<\/p>\n

History of passinho<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While passinho has been around in the baile funk<\/a>\u00a0(funk party) dance scene since at least the early\u00a02000s, it remained relatively unknown for several years.\u00a0The first dance group to include passinho was the\u00a0Imperadores da Dan\u00e7a<\/a>,\u00a0founded in 2006 by Anderson Santana (known as Bainaninho) in Jacarezinho in Rio’s North Zone<\/a>. During that time, dancers learned by word of mouth about one another and baile funks became locales for inter-favela dance duels. While baile funk parties are\u00a0thought of as the\u00a0birthplace of passinho, many battles actually occurred on\u00a0a small side road by the\u00a0Madureira<\/a>\u00a0Shopping Mall.\u00a0This historical spot\u00a0was where many dancers gained their reputations,\u00a0battling in one of the many informal rodas<\/em>\u00a0(circles)\u00a0formed every Saturday, a tradition that continues to today.<\/p>\n

\"Dancers<\/a><\/p>\n

In\u00a02008, at a moment that is often regarded the Internet inception of passinho, a dancer called Bei\u00e7ola from Jacarezinho posted a YouTube video of him and his friends dancing<\/a>.\u00a0The video spread rapidly, inspiring favela youth across the city to use social media to share\u00a0similar dance videos,\u00a0and passinho was transformed almost overnight from an insulated dance to a full on cultural phenomenon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2011, writer Julio Ludemir\u00a0and musician Rafael Mike Soares\u00a0organized the first\u00a0Batalha do Passinho<\/a>\u00a0(Passinho Battle), at the SESC cultural center in Tijuca<\/a>. These battles\u00a0legitimized passinho as a dance\u00a0style and inspired filmmaker Em\u00edlio Domingos<\/a> to make the 2012\u00a0documentary A Batalha do Passinho<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in which he follows the\u00a0lives of pioneer dancers such as Cebolinha and Gamb\u00e1. Tragically,\u00a0Gamb\u00e1, the “King of Passinho<\/a>,” was murdered<\/a> in 2012 at\u00a0the height of his dance career. He never got to witness the release of the film or the impact it had. His death, the details of which remain a mystery, hit\u00a0the\u00a0dance community hard. Those\u00a0who knew him resolved to keep dancing\u00a0in his honor<\/a>.\u00a0Gamb\u00e1 lives on in passinho’s history, immortalized through the choreography he contributed to the dance movement.<\/p>\n

\"Gamb\u00e1,<\/a><\/p>\n

Passinho first gained international exposure when Ludemir took a group of dancers<\/a> from the passinho battles to perform at the closing ceremony<\/a> of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Soon US\u00a0pop icons were picking up on the phenomenon: Chris Brown danced Passinho do Romano<\/a>;\u00a0Beyonc\u00e9 included\u00a0passinho moves<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0her 2013 Rock in Rio performance; and Ricky Martin featured the Dream Team do Passinho<\/a> in his 2014\u00a0music video “Vida<\/a>.”\u00a0During the 2014 World Cup<\/a>, passinho was featured in the BBC<\/em>‘s official\u00a0video montage<\/a>\u00a0and the New York Times<\/em> called funk the “soundtrack of Rio<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Stylistic aspects of passinho<\/b><\/h3>\n

Passinho, which literally translates as “little step,” is characterized by patterns of rapid foot movements that are facilitated by sharp twists from the waist. Passinho mixes\u00a0elements from breakdancing and funk with traditional Brazilian moves\u00a0like\u00a0samba, frevo and capoeira<\/a>. It is traditionally performed unchoreographed, with dancers improvising on the spot to the music.<\/p>\n

\""Cruzado"<\/a><\/p>\n

A signature stylistic aspect of passinho is the dancer’s gaze towards their feet. Often mistaken\u00a0for looking at the ground\u2013a no-no within the world of classical dance training\u2013this aspect\u00a0is not a sign of amateurism but a stylistic choice. Dancers say they are following the motion of their bodies, and motion in passinho is in the feet.<\/p>\n

While there are basic passinho moves<\/a>, there is no rubric that demarcates what is “correct” or “incorrect.” This gives dancers the freedom to interpret moves differently and personal modifications can become unique\u00a0styles, such as the famous Passinho do Romano<\/a>\u00a0in S\u00e3o Paulo. The goal of passinho is not to imitate, but to reinvent. This playful competition is the creative force that drives passinho’s continuous evolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stigmatization of funk culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Because passinho is typically danced to\u00a0funk carioca, the dance movement\u00a0has received\u00a0a lot of the stigma<\/a> associated with the musical style.\u00a0Funk carioca<\/a>, a fusion of American funk beats and Afro-Brazilian rhythms that originated in the 70s and 80s<\/a>, has faced\u00a0criminalization<\/a>\u00a0and criticism for\u00a0lyrics that\u00a0push the limits of social acceptability in terms of violence, drugs, and sexual references. Many artists will say that they are\u00a0speaking from their reality<\/a> and point to other musical genres that also include taboo themes, but never seem to face the same magnitude of backlash. For many, the criminalization of funk, and by extension the criminalization of passinho, is an expression of\u00a0the\u00a0criminalization of poverty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Passinho has also been affected by the criminalization of baile funk parties, a key dance space for passinho. In 2000, Rio de Janeiro state passed\u00a0law 3410<\/a>\u00a0restricting the organization of baile funks by requiring, among many things, that organizers install metal detectors\u00a0and only host bailes with\u00a0the presence of\u00a0the Military Police.\u00a0In 2009, the baile funk movement gained a victory with the passage of state\u00a0law 5543<\/a>, which officially\u00a0recognizes funk as a cultural movement and\u00a0prohibits discrimination against funk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Passinho and social change<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Passinho is often credited for helping to\u00a0diffuse tensions<\/a> between favelas as\u00a0dancers were allowed\u00a0the exceptional ability to bypass borders that separated\u00a0territories run by rival\u00a0drug gangs. Passinho gives dancers an affirmation of the value they have as individuals.<\/p>\n

\"Dancers<\/a><\/p>\n

Passinho offers young black men, the\u00a0demographic most likely to fall victim<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0police violence<\/a> and coercion into\u00a0drug trafficking<\/a>, a refuge<\/a>\u00a0from violence and alternative means of gaining status and earning money. Passinho is inherently political in its\u00a0assertion of pride for black culture and favela culture<\/a> within a country that historically\u00a0stigmatizes both<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inherent to the passinho movement is a sense of community and belonging. Many dancers refer to their peers as “family” and veteran dancers feel a sense of responsibility to guide the next generation, not only in dance movements but in life choices.<\/p>\n

Passinho has also helped break down gendered roles within the dance community. Passinho created a\u00a0space for men to show off dance skills, challenging the preconceived notion that only woman can dance in exhibitionistic ways.\u00a0The dance’s tendency for playful gender-bending choreography also allows men to defy the expectation\u00a0of showcasing\u00a0hyper-masculinity.<\/p>\n

\"Passinho<\/a><\/p>\n

This deconstruction of gender norms indirectly opened the possibility for female artists to enter the scene and use funk and passinho as a means of\u00a0empowerment<\/a>.\u00a0Initially, when female dancers entered the passinho scene, they faced discrimination and exclusion. While girls have been involved\u00a0in passinho battles since 2012, there was an unspoken rule that a man could not lose to a woman.<\/p>\n

In 2015 girls were finally given their own category in the CDA Batalho do Passinho, a victory for those\u00a0who’ve waited for recognition in the male dominated passinho dance field.<\/p>\n

\"Finalists<\/a><\/p>\n

Educators are now recognizing the corporal and socio-cultural potential<\/a> of passinho, and the dance style\u00a0is being introduced as an\u00a0instructional tool<\/a>\u00a0in some Rio schools.\u00a0Members of the Dream Team do Passinho act as cultural ambassadors, using their fame to spread messages about topics such as\u00a0reproductive health and rights.<\/a><\/p>\n

Passinho today<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Today passinho has grown from one small dance group in Jacar\u00e9 to active groups based\u00a0all over Rio.\u00a0Passinho dance battles are highly organized<\/a> and have corporate sponsorship. Contestants are either chosen or nominated democratically by their peers through “likes” on dance videos. Dancers are then paired off and each has 40 seconds to perform for the panel of three judges.\u00a0The judges, experts in passinho, decide\u00a0who shall proceed to the next round taking into consideration both range of skill and basic technique. Judges also look to see that the dancer presents their own unique style and personality. The winners receive a\u00a0cash prize in addition to the acclaim and recognition of winning the battle.<\/p>\n

Dancers are currently preparing to compete in the Passinho de Ouro finals<\/a>\u00a0this Saturday\u00a0August 20, a challenge put together\u00a0by Rio 2016 organizers. Meanwhile, passinho continues to gain recognition in pop culture\u2013dancers from Imperadores da Dan\u00e7a will\u00a0make an appearance<\/a> in the upcoming comedy film\u00a0T\u00f4 Ryca<\/a><\/em> to be released on September 22.<\/p>\n

\"Battles<\/a><\/p>\n

But while passinho is gaining exposure\u00a0on the stage and in cinema, artists\u00a0are still fighting for recognition in the\u00a0formalized art world and for the facilities to train. Many performance dance groups, such as Imperadores da Dan\u00e7a, still do not have a studio space of their own to train in.<\/p>\n

Additionally, as passinho and funk become more popularized, these cultural forms face appropriation by industries\u00a0hoping to profit by selling the funk “brand.” Nightclubs in the affluent\u00a0South Zone<\/a> and even clubs within pacified favelas<\/a>\u00a0host high-priced funk\u00a0or passinho themed parties which\u00a0attract wealthy Brazilians and tourists. This\u00a0exclusivity is counter to the inclusive nature of passinho<\/a>, and is especially problematic to those who believe the key difference between valorization and appropriation is the presence of representatives from the original passinho dance community. Dancers hope that instead, international attention will bring greater\u00a0respect for passinho as a legitimate dance style and generate more opportunities for favela artists.<\/p>\n

Passinho’s history\u00a0is far from complete, in fact many dancers say the movement is only growing.\u00a0As such, passinho is a history\u00a0in motion, a legacy forged step by step.<\/p>\n

Check out our video of \u00a0William Severo dos Santos preparing for his Olympics debut:<\/h3>\n