Music Moves Us will culminate Aug. 10 at Holland’s Kollen Park with a grand finale featuring the “Music Unites Us – Brazil'' concert and preshow activities, allowing attendees to immerse themselves in Brazilian culture.
The evening kicks off with a
capoeira dance demonstration and lesson from 4 to 5 p.m. This lesson, led by capoeira master Leandro Lemos and sponsored by Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates, will demonstrate Brazilian capoeira, a dancelike martial art form.
Next, from
5 to 6 p.m., the
Holland Samba School will perform. The group's founder and musical director, percussionist Christopher Fashun, and its members will help the audience feel the rhythm of Brazil.
At
7 p.m., the Holland Symphony Orchestra’s annual free community concert will feature Choro das 3, a Brazilian folk music trio of sisters, accompanied by the Holland Symphony Orchestra and Fashun, the guest conductor.
Brazilian choro, the South American country’s original popular music, is to Brazil what jazz is to America. It combines African rhythms, European dance, and folk music.
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Christopher FashunMembers of the Holland Samba School after performing at the Tulip Time Festival.
Original arrangements
"The orchestral arrangements for the ‘HSO Music Unites Us-Brazil!’ has been a year in the making,” says Fashun. “Choro das 3 and I have written most of the arrangements for this concert and are excited to share this incredible Brazilian musical art form with the musicians of the Holland Symphony Orchestra and the Holland Community. It's the ideal music for an outdoor concert."
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LIADavid Lee
The
Holland Symphony Orchestra concert is made possible by the sponsorship of
Corewell Health,
Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, and
Gentex, and the support of
MillerKnoll and the Brooks Family Foundation.
Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates will be the community sponsor of the demonstration and lesson in capoeira, a Brazilian tradition with roots in social justice. David Lee, LIA’s advance director and a violist in the Holland Symphony Orchestra, will emcee the event.
“LIA is honored to be a community sponsor of Music Moves Us, especially given Holland’s deep connection to immigrants and immigration," says Lee. "We believe in music, art, work, and advocacy that welcomes people from across the globe to our shared home in West Michigan. Social justice is about speaking truth to power.”
Important cultural element
Lemos describes the Brazilian pride for capoeira as only second to its first love of soccer.
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Leandro LemosLeandro Lemos“After soccer, everybody plays capoeira in Brazil,” he says.
The traditional cultural dance predates sport, dating back to the 1600s when it was brought to the country by enslaved Africans.
“It involves a lot of things when you interact with other people who need to be your opponent to play with,” Lemos explains. “It brings together music, instruments, and your motor coordination, balance, and focus.”
Lemos, who lives in Grand Junction, has taught the art form in the Holland area for years in workshops at Hope College, most recently through its dance department and classes at the Boys and Girls Club of Holland. He dreams of eventually teaching capoeira full time, but for now, he has a day job in the construction industry.
He most recently became a master in a ceremony in Italy.
“I went to this big event where my master was there and was surprised by being recognized as a master that day,” says Lemos. “We had masters from all over Brazil. It was a very cool moment for me after studying capoeira for 40 years.”
The capoeira tradition is strong where he grew up in Bahia, a significant port in northeastern Brazil, because it’s where many of those who were enslaved were brought to the country.
He says capoeira has held his focus for four decades because it has many facets.
“I love everything about it,” Lemos says. “I love the fact that you interact with other people. It's a very rich culture.”
For more information about the Music Moves Us events, visit the
Holland Symphony Orchestra’s website.
The Lakeshore WM is the media sponsor of Music Moves Us.
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