4 featured groups

After assessing the needs and effectiveness of various grassroots organizations in Bahia, we've decided to work with the following four groups. We wanted to represent a cross-section of the performing arts community in Bahia, so we picked one group in each of these four arts: drumming, circus, theater, and capoeira.

Drumming Group :: DiDá Escola de Música e Dança

DiDá is a project devoted to the personal development of adolescent women through drum performance. The project encompasses both a professional group of female musicians (Banda Feminina DiDá) and a school for teenagers named DiDá Escola de Música e Dança. DiDá means "the power of creation" in Yoruba - referring to its female participants' power to give birth to children. In their short history, the women of DiDá have shown the world that they also possess the power to give birth to exceptional music, dance and inspiration.

Circus Group :: Circo Picolino

As the pioneer of a movement that is now nation-wide, Circo Picolino began as a simple tuition-based children's circus over 15 years ago. Today, it's a multi-tiered circus organization which boasts over 400 students in weekly attendance. These students are primarily at-risk children who come to Picolino through public and private institutions focused on getting kids off the streets. At Picolino, children gain self-esteem and learn valuable lessons about co-operation and social interaction through a circus style that focuses on acrobatics as a performing art.

Theater Group :: Bejé Eró

Bando de Teatro Olodum is a 15 year old theater group notorious in Salvador for their heavily political and Afro-centric performances. Bejé Eró was founded by a member of the Bando who wanted to bring the positive values and perspectives she gained through theater to her own low-income city project. Through Art-Education, they strive to teach children theater as a way to express their Afro-Brazilian culture proudly and loudly. By engaging them in theater, they catch their attention and get them more involved in other aspects of education as well.

Capoeira Group :: ACANNE

Capoeira Angola is a dance and martial art concerned with the religious, physical, and social development of the individual. ACANNE works with children in Bahia - focussing on local community building. They organize courses, lectures, debates and expositions around Afro-Brazilian cultural expression. They work through the play of Capoeira Angola as a means to educate the community about their rich and diverse culture and the necesity to protect it and practice it.