Paula Higa from the School of the Arts Program in Dance and D. Thomas Toner from the SoA Program in Music led a Winter Session travel class to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, “Afro-Brazil: Arts, Culture, and History,” fulfilling Paula’s dream of bringing students to her native land.
The ten days on the ground were packed with activities. Lectures were given on the Afro-Brazilian religions of Bahia such as Candomblé and its orixás, the African diaspora in Bahia, graffiti as an expression of Afro-Brazilian resistance and culture, and the connections between music in Salvador and New Orleans jazz. Students were also active participants in workshops on percussion in samba reggae, the symbolic dance of Candomblé ceremonies, and capoeira as a synthesis of Afro-Brazilian culture, martial arts, music, and dance.
In addition to tasting Bahian cuisine, the group toured historic sites in Salvador and a few towns in the Recôncavo Baiano, visited two Candomblé temples, saw sea turtles being cared for at the Projeto Tamar (a non-profit sanctuary dedicated to protect them), learned about the Steve Biko Cultural Institute (the first pre-university course for black students in Brazil), spent an afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art and the new Museum of Contemporary Art, saw an incredible performance by the Balé Folclórico da Bahia, and had lunch at Quilombo Kaonge where students not only learned about their African past (showing us how members of the quilombo community make dende oil, for example), but also about the quilombolas future (a representative from a community bank talked about bringing the quilombo communities together through loaning money, interest free, to community members and establishing their own indigenous currency).