Lorene Vilela grew up dancing, singing, and drumming the samba–both in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and at one of the samba schools where thousands rehearse year-round for Brazil’s famous Carnaval. Since marrying an American rock musician and moving to the United States nine years ago, Vilela has made a career of promoting the Afro-Brazilian rhythm. But though she was codirector of the Chicago Samba School and a performer in the band Da Cor do Samba, she didn’t discover the music’s true magic until one evening last September in Wicker Park, of all places.
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The 30-year-old Brazilian had never seen anything quite like it. Not that she hasn’t seen any samba-induced marathons (Rio’s carnival parade runs from afternoon until sunrise for two days). But what surprised Vilela was the music’s effect on unwitting Chicagoans experiencing samba for the first time. “The people didn’t know the traditional samba steps,” she said. “They did their own dance, feeling the beat of the drums, moving to the rhythm and saying ‘One more, one more.’”
The scene was much like those brought on by drumming jam sessions that erupt throughout Brazil on weekend nights and Sunday afternoons. A crowd gathers outside a neighborhood bar where musicians play different patterns, called batucada, on a variety of drums. Nobody gets paid to perform a batucada. “It’s just something people really like to do,” says Vilela. “They do it with their hearts.” The exercise keeps Brazilians permanently primed for their annual pre-Lenten festival.
Last April Vilela approached the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and landed a gig at Viva! Chicago, the last of the summer’s free Grant Park music festivals. The fourth annual Latino-oriented program, to be held this weekend, will present 12 acts representing six countries.
Vilela couldn’t imagine pretending to sing in front of a live audience, but she is delighted with the TV exposure. Da Cor do Samba will play 25 minutes, and then five dancers from the samba school will join them onstage for 25 more minutes.
