Brazil Information and Culture - Zest and Style!
Custom Search
Brazil Information and Culture. New World in the Tropics. Brazil has been shaped not only by the Portuguese, who gave the country its most common religion and language, but also by the country's native Indians, the considerable African population, and other settlers from all over the world.
With the country's enormous size, growing population and economy, and exuberant culture, Brazil is now solidly established as a regional power. Facts and myths of Brazil are often intermixed in the mind of the visitor. The following quote is a mythmaking mixture of the facts of Brazil and the myths of Brazil
-- written by Rocha Pitta - early historian. More recently, the company Invest Tur, had this to say about Brazil's potential: "From the Amazon to tropical forests to colonial history to beaches, it's a myriad of natural and very high-level attractions that have been vastly underdeveloped." These attractions, combined with a very positive macroeconomic view of Brazil, encouraged Guimaraes and his partners to launch Invest Tur. In addition, soccer-mad Brazil is gearing up to host the 2014 World Cup, which will accelerate tourist inflows and speed up investment in tourism and infrastructure. If you are fascinated by Brazil - Brazil information and culture - and the Brazilians - you are not alone. Brazil enjoys an enviable reputation in the international arena, its people are perceived as funloving, easygoing and yes, exciting. And to top that off, the Carnival in Rio is often described as "probably the world's biggest party". One of the facts of Brazil is that each February tens of thousands of people from around the world descend on Rio de Janeiro as it explodes into one giant fiesta of music, dancing and uninhibited celebration lasting for four days. There's no doubt that the beaches of Brazil (and their inhabitants) are dazzling. Brazilians are the undisputed kings and queens of beach cool. The country produces supermodels of epic proportions - another detail of Brazil information, and designers from Calvin Klein to Narciso Rodriguez regularly jet down to Rio to sip caipirinhas and soak up the colorful scene. Brazil Information - concerning energy. Brazil's strategy to achieve energy independence produced this comment from a financial columnist: "One nation saw the light 30 years ago and set forth a path towards Energy independence that has rendered Brazil impervious to Worldwide Oil price hikes or supply interruptions, because Brazil is now virtually a self sufficient ethanol based economy, that through the ingenuity of flexible fueled cars, can run on both Gasoline or Ethanol or a combination of both. The advantages Brazil has gained from this strategy are astounding, including deriving some 20% of its Electricity from a bi-product of Sugar production that in of itself is an efficient burning fuel and ridding itself of much of the hydro-carbon based contamination and atmospheric pollution that increasingly plagues the entire World."
Here's a quote from the review (of the book "The Brazilians") in Publisher's Weekly - another piece of interesting Brazil information: "Vast in area, rich in resources and uniquely integrated in racial composition, here is Brazil in all its beauty, contradictions, promises and disappointments. The author, whose love affair with the country spans 30 years, probes deep into the layers of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, African and Indian heritage that make Brazil so alluring and paradoxical. Idealistic and pragmatic, exuberant and passive, its peoaple have survived colonialism, slavery, dictatorships and populism and now struggle toward a viable capitalism in a society characterized by extremes of wealth and poverty." Music Brazil Information would not be complete without including music sung in the Brazilian-Portuguese dialect. It has a sensuality and richness unlike any other language. (quoted from "World Music, the basics") Brazil information about Brazilian music is characterized by great diversity and, shaped by musical influences from three continents, is still developing new and original forms. Brazil culture includes the samba, the national dance. It uses rhythms and movements of African origin. Afro-Brazilians have profoundly influenced the evolution of Carnival. The Portuguese language spoken by all Brazilians owes its melodic inflection as well as many of its expressions to the African presence in Brazil. The spirituality of the Brazilian people bears the distinct signature of the orixás (African gods and goddesses). (from "The Brazilians") The samba reached the height of popularity in the 1930s, a mixture of Spanish bolero with the cadences and rhythms of African music. Its most famous exponent was probably Carmen Miranda, known for her fiery temperament and extravagant headdresses (inspired by the traditions of Bahia). (But there was also the remarkable Bidu Sayao, representing artists in classical music).
The more subdued bossa nova, such a symbol of Brazil culture, popular in the 1950s and characterized by songs such as 'The Girl from Ipanema', was influenced by North American jazz.
Tropicalismo is a mix of musical influences that arrived in Brazil in the 1960s and led a more electric samba. More recently, the lambada, influenced by Caribbean rhythms, became internationally popular in the 1980s. South American Classics - Highly recommended: Caetano Veloso's Fina Estampa
The Best Computer And Electronics Deals Anywhere!
Download Evidence Eliminator™ software and protect your PC
from unauthorized intrusions.
|
