When you watch the video below – you would most likely be curious to find out more about this interesting style of dance. Here is some facts we managed to find for you:
The word forró is a derivative of the English expression “for all” and that it originated in the early 1900s. English engineers on the GreatWestern Railway of Brazil near Recife would throw balls on weekends and classify them as either only for railroad personnel or for the general populace (“for all”).
Forró is the most popular genre of music and dance in Brazil’s Northeast, to the extent that historically “going to the Forró” meant simply going to party or going out.
Forró is danced in pairs, usually very close together, with the man’s left hand holding the woman’s right hand as in the Waltz, his right arm around her back and her left arm around his neck; Other styles may require to stay partially away, or in a considerable distance, only holding their hands up the shoulders. Influences from salsa and other Caribbean dances has given mobility to forró, with the woman – and occasionally the man – being spun in various ways, although it’s not essential to spin at all, and more complex movements may prove impossible to be executed in the usually crowded dancing area of forrós.
Forro dancing styles are informally often groupped into two main “families”, simply for practical reasons: The older Nordestino (North-eastern) type of Forro and the Universitário(University) Forro that developed later in the South.
Nordestino forro is danced with the couple much closer together, with their legs often inter-twined and a characteristic sideways shuffle movement. Because of the intimacy, there are not as many step variations in this style.
Universitário forro, with its origins in the big southern cities of Brazil, is the more popular style outside of the north-east. Its basic step is forward-backwards – slightly similar to traditional Bolero or Salsa. With more space between the pair, many more moves, steps and turns are possible than in Nordestino styles.
Read more about Forro’ on Wikipedia.
