Forró

The term forró (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [fɔˈʁɔ]) refers to a musical genre, a rhythm, a dance and the event itself where forró music is played and danced. Forró is an important part of the culture of the Northeastern Region of Brazil. It encompasses various dance types as well as a number of different musical genres. Their music genres and dances have gained widespread popularity in all regions of Brazil, especially during the Brazilian June Festivals. Forró has also become increasingly popular all over the world, with a well-established forró scene in Europe.

The forrós were popular dances that took place in certain locations, using various rhythms. Forró as a festivity and musical genre has its joint origin in several states of the Brazilian Northeast, emerging in the outskirts of the capitals and in the countryside of the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Alagoas. Forró encompasses various rural rhythms from several northeastern states, such as baião, xote, arrasta pé, xaxado, coco, rural samba, among many other rhythms.

The popular dances, according to the Pernambucan press, were known as "forrobodó" or "forrobodança" or even "forrobodão" already by the end of the 19th century.

There are several theories on the origin of the name. The main theory is that forró as a derivative of forrobodó, meaning "great party" or "commotion". This is the view held by Brazilian folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo, who studied the Brazilian Northeast through most of his life.^{[citation needed]} Forrobodó is believed^{[by whom?]} to come from the word forbodó (itself an abbreviation of fauxbourdon), which was used in the Portuguese court to define a dull party. The word forrobodó is itself very common in Portuguese popular conversation to describe a fun, but almost depraved and limitless party. This word was carried by Portuguese migration waves to Brazil, and lost the light negative meaning and was slowly simplified by their children.

Forró is the most popular genre of music and dance in Brazil's Northeast,^{[citation needed]} to the extent that historically "going to the forró" meant simply going to party or going out.^{[citation needed]} The music is based on a combination of three instruments (accordion, zabumba and a metal triangle). The dance however becomes very different as you cross the borders of the Northeast into the Southeast.^{[citation needed]} As part of the popular culture it is in constant change. ^{[citation needed]} The dance known as college forró is the most common style between the middle-class students of colleges and universities in the Southeast, having influences of other dances like salsa and samba-rock.^{[citation needed]}

The traditional music used to dance the forró was brought to the Southeast from the Northeast by Luiz Gonzaga, who transformed the baião (a word originated from baiano and assigned a warm-up for artists to search for inspiration before playing) into a more sophisticated rhythm.^{[citation needed]} In later years, forró achieved popularity throughout Brazil, in the form of a slower genre known as xote, that has been influenced by pop-rock music to become more acceptable by Brazilian youth of Southeast, South and Central regions.^{[citation needed]}

A compilation album titled Brazil: Forró - Music for Maids and Taxi Drivers was released internationally in 1989, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the United States two years later.

Forró, referring to the music and not the dance, encompasses today various musical styles. The original musical style, from which have grown most of the musical styles today denoted as forró, was the forró of Luiz Gonzaga (and others such as Jackson do Pandeiro and Marinês).^{[citation needed]}