Abstract
The paper examines the cultural underpinnings and history of one of the most popular dance and music styles in Brazil - Samba. The importance of this music in daily life is emphasized, as well as the religious and popular overtones, such as the annual Carnival. The paper also includes an interview with Jon Agasse, a guitarist and percussionist with a samba ensemble living in Los Angeles.

From the Paper
"The crowd of almost one hundred thousand is restless. The night is moist, hot, and alive with a feeling in the air so palpable you can almost trace it with your finger. The bleachers are filled to maximum capacity, along a mile-long stretch of paved roadway adjacent to an old brewery. People from all races, classes, and countries are celebrating together at the culmination of the orgiastic, pre-Lenten, hedonistic festival of Carnival. Soon, the first marchers proceed down the corridor to the booming cacophony of bass, snare, and friction drums. The rattling of tambourines, bells, and scrapers add flavor and accent. Like a bird set free, the singing cavaquinho (ukulele) emits its high pitched cries, adding to the frenzy. The marchers and dancers, with their quick, physical movements, undulating hips and heel steps, embody the living sound. It is time for the annual celebration once again in Brazil, time for Carnival, a time once again for the ultimate physical expression of joy: Samba."

Tags:african, black, jazz, mamba, merengue, rhumba, rio

Abstract
The writer notes that Samba is described by Ed Morales, an expert of Latin music in, 'The Latin Beat', as an amalgamation of Afro-European culture that has become one of the many Brazilian points of pride and independent culture. The writer then looks at the history of the word Samba and at the music and the dance. The writer maintains that Samba will likely grow in expression and development, as more and more people become aware of the cultural diversity and richness of the Brazilian social landscape. The writer further discusses that Samba is the backbone of the long procession that dominates the economy, ideals and cultural expression of Brazil. The writer concludes that there is a sense that Samba connects the celebration to the people and it also demonstrates the link between all those who watch and participate in the events.

From the Paper
"Though the music has more often been associated with various forms of civil unrest and been subverted officially, with raids of events and police action being taken against those who celebrate around samba. Once greater tolerance for African customs and ritual religious performance art was achieved in Brazil there was an establishment of an infrastructure that celebrated and promulgated the genre to its local and then global heights, known as samba schools.
"The origins of the musical genre, and its name are not completely agreed upon, it is thought that the word Samba is an amalgam of the word, semba, a Bantu word meaning to pray or invoke the African gods and as a noun it was meant as something akin to "the blues" a cry or complaint."

Tags:cultural, rhythm, style, Brazil

Abstract
This paper explains that as a dance form, Samba was rooted in the African heritage of the slaves the Portuguese brought to till the lands of their newest conquest, Brazil. Ripe in their own culture, the slaves outwitted their keepers by celebrating their own culture under the guise of party and dance; popular continued dedication to the holy forms of traditional culture invoked the preservation of the sensual dance form. The writer points out that as the world scene grew more international and Brazil developed its own government separate of the European thrones, Samba was encouraged on a national level for patriotic reasons, spread internationally for the beauty that had been suppressed for centuries, supporting its power to overcome racial segregation through simple movements.

From the Paper
"The power-hungry political motivations of Vargas did not detract from the many advances he made in the country and the society as a whole; his attention to the power of the people remains unvanquished. By providing financial and governmental support to those dedicated enough to the dance of Samba, he achieved not only an image of native power but also succeeded in popularizing a culture that had been ignored and suppressed by its rulers for centuries. Vargas played upon the political theme that Brazil was a racial democracy, where Afro-Brazilian heritage could not only be accepted but received the honor it was due."

Tags:brazil, heritage, music, racial

Abstract
This paper presents a report on the book, "Samba", by Alma Guillermoprieto, noting how the author develops a view of Brazilian society through one of the institutions in that society, the samba school, which she reports on first hand by spending a year learning the dance and becoming steeped in the culture of the samba and the carnival when thousands of samba dancers meet.

From the Paper
"The samba schools she describes come from the poorest areas of Brazil, the favelas, poor sections of the city of Rio on the hills around the core of that city. In her discussion, she shows how this particular institution relates to the people, to the tradition of carnival, and to ideas of social cohesion and even the form and structure of crime in the country. A little research shows much about Brazil, much that is illustrated in a different way in Guillermoprieto's narrative."

Tags:samba, favela, brazil

Abstract
A book report on Herman Vianna's "The Mystery of Samba", a cultural anthropology study of music in Brazil, particularly the use of 'racially-mixed' culture as a symbol for all of Brazilian culture.

Tags:book, report, samba

Abstract
This paper examines the way in which three cultural traditions have come together in Brazil. The author points out that these cultural traditions are Native American, European and African. The paper relates these culture as observed in dance, music, religion and farming practices.

From the Paper
"Brazil is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world, drawing on a large number of traditional cultural sources in order to create its own unique national identity. While there are a number of cultures that come together in Brazil, three major influences have shaped the national identity for the past several hundred years. These influences arise from native populations, Europeans, and Africans. The native tribes were obviously already there when the Europeans arrived, bringing their culture with them. The Europeans brought Africans to Brazil as slaves. Over time, these three groups found their own cultural tropes appropriated and mixed with the others to form new cultural forms in music, dance, religion, and even farming."

Tags:brazil, cultural, influences

Abstract
The following memo is a brief overview of our company - an overview accompanied by an evaluation of a country (Brazil) that decision-makers at Redship Technologies right here in quiet Des Moines, Iowa, might wish to consider as a market for the organization's computer support services. As time permits, I will describe Brazil and why it is a desirable market and I will also look at the nation's legal and political systems. In the end, I believe Brazil provides an excellent opportunity we cannot let pass.

From the Paper
Redship Technologies and Brazil: Building a Business Bridge to South America's Giant Dear Mr. Shipton: The following memo is a brief overview of our company - an overview accompanied by an evaluation of a country (Brazil) that decision-makers at Redship Technologies right here in quiet Des Moines, Iowa, might wish to consider as a market for the organization's computer support services. As time permits, I will describe Brazil and why it is a desirable market and I will also look at the nation's legal and political systems. In the end, I believe Brazil provides an excellent opportunity we cannot let pass.

Tags:brazil, redship, technologies

Abstract
The 1960s in Brazil were revolutionary times. However, most of this progress halted under a new dictatorship. In 1964, a right wing military coup took control of Brazil, bringing with it an extreme level of censorship of both artists and intellectuals. This paper outlines the effect this dictatorship had on Brazil's contemporary art movement.

From the Paper
"At the end of 1968, the Institutional Act #5 was set in place. This act gave the president dictatorial powers, dissolved Congress and state legislatures, suspended the constitution, and imposed censorship. For culture, this meant strict censorship of artistic events, and the persecution and imprisonment of intellectuals and artists. This was a very heavy blow to artists, as they had to watch their steps even more. Soon after Vladimir Herzog, a journalist accused of subversion, was murdered in prison by the military police, Cildo Meireles began creating his "Insertions into Ideological Circuits" in order to create a system for the circulation and exchange of information that did not depend on any kind of centralized control."

Tags:1960s, 5, 50, architecture, art, bossa, brasilia, brazil, capital, concrete, constructed, counterparts, democratic, economical, example, five, freedom, government, growth, intelligence, kubitschek, led, military, movement, neoconcrete, new, nova, paulo, progress, promising, rationalis

Abstract
The paper examines Jean de Lery's "History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil" that was published in 1578, and is regarded as one of the great works of early ethnography. The paper explains that Lery was writing from a particular point of view, that of a French Huguenot, who was living in a time of religious strife in France. The paper relates that he had trained for the ministry, and in 1556 he and thirteen other Calvinists went to Brazil, at the invitation of Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon, a Catholic who was trying to start a French colony in Brazil.

From the Paper
"Jean de Lery's "History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil" was published in 1578, and is regarded as one of the great works of early ethnography. As with all other ethnographers, Lery was writing from a particular point of view. In his case, it was that of a French Huguenot, who was living in a time of religious strife in France. He had trained for the ministry, and in 1556 he and thirteen other Calvinists went to Brazil, at the invitation of Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon, a Catholic who was trying to start a French colony in Brazil. After a four month trip by sea, as well as a long voyage by land, Lery's party arrived. Villegagnon greeted them..."

Tags:brazil, lery, history

Abstract
This paper examines the impact of Spanish and Portuguese colonization on Mesoamerican culture, with an emphasis on conversion of indigenous peoples to Christianity. The author describes the native religion and lifestyle prior to the Europeans' arrival, and the subsequent results of conversion to Christianity, both positive and negative. Also described is the treatment toward the native peoples by the Europeans. The paper is divided into two sections, one describing the Spanish invasion and the other the Portuguese conquest of Brazil. The author concludes that the effort by Portuguese Christians to convert native Brazilians - by force or otherwise - to Christianity was far less successful than tactics used by Spaniards in Mexico.

Outline:
Introduction
Literature Review
The arrival of the Spaniards into Mesoamerican Mexico
Things did not go well for the Spaniards in 1680s and 1690s
Jesuit priest Father Tomas Miranda raged at the cruel treatment of the Seri
Portugal and the Colonization of Brazil
Works Cited

From the Paper
"And because the Roman Catholic leadership in Spain saw the natives as part of a prophecy, a gift from Lord to enrich their Spanish culture, the Franciscan missionaries, the first priests in Mexico, used "indoctrination" as a term rather than "evangelization." The Spaniards reportedly believed that since God had placed these Native Americans on Mexican soil for the enhancement of Spanish culture and religion, that the natives merely needed the facts of Christianity (Roman Catholicism), not the full litany of evangelization. The Spaniards were wrong, of course, and they found themselves in the midst of a myriad of troubling situations they could not possibly have predicted."

Tags:Christianity, conversion, native, peoples, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Portugal