Frevo is a style of music and dance that originated in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, and is associated with Brazilian Carnivals. Frevo derives its name from frever, which is a variant of the Portuguese word ferver (to boil). Listeners and dancers are said to feel like they are boiling on the ground while listening to the frevo.
Frevo dance takes its cue from the skill and agility of capoeira fighters, who perform an elemental dance as they leap to the electric sound of steel orchestras and bands.
Throughout the 19th century, Brazilian Army musicians would perform during Carnival. Since carnival is associated with Catholicism, the musicians would combine religious processions and military marching to create the parades they were known for. Because of the violent nature of this tradition, many capoeira musicians were arrested during their performances because the capoeira movement disguised itself as a dance movement. The frevo dance was born when dancers (passistas) reacted by using umbrellas instead of knives.
Each dancer worked hard on developing a new movement that required much rehearsal, strength, endurance, and flexibility, and the battle between the groups moved from the physical to the aesthetical. The Frevo dance includes jumps, coordinated fast leg movements, leg flexions, and tumbles, among others. It is now more commonly known as passo and frevo dancers as passistas. Their attire has also evolved from simple clothes to skimpy attire. They are also very colorful to make them more noticeable in a crowd.
Starting in the 1950s, one of the most important contributors to the passo is Nascimento do Passo. It's said that he created over 100 different movements for the passo. In the late 1990s, he founded the first Frevo school in Recife. His image is one of the most prominent icons of the carnival in Pernambuco.
Frevo and Passo practitioners are part of associations, each of which participates in a parade to raise money for its headquarters. They support the development, preservation, and transmission of knowledge and skills related to Frevo. The element of Frevo also relates closely to the beliefs and symbols of the practitioners’ religion.
When contemplating the future of frevo, we must invest in a continuous process of reflection, creation, experimentation, and diffusion that will lead to innovative products, business models, and creative chains.