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Brazilian NYC

Brazilian NYC is mostly in Little Brazil; Astoria, Queens; and Newark, New Jersey. The United Nations was designed by a Brazilian. New York City’s big Brazilian festivals are Brazilian Day and Brasil Summerfest.

Brazilian Archive

Brazilian Festivals in NYC

Brazilian Day on Labor Day Weekend and Brasil SummerFest in July or August are New York City’s big Brazilian festivals.

Brazilian New York City

Manhattan’s Little Brazil is on 46th St between Fifth & Sixth Avenue. It has shrunk a lot over the years. There are still Emporium Brasil, Ipanema and Via Brasil restaurants.

New York’s main Brazilian communities are now in Astoria, Queens and Newark, New Jersey.

The Brazilian Consulate is in Midtown East. There is a Banco do Brasil Brazilian bank in Midtown.

Fogo de Chao and Churrascaria Plataforma are Manhattan’s Brazilian steakhouses. Rio Market in Astoria, Queens is a great Brazilian market.

SOB’s (Sounds of Brazil) is a world music night club in Hudson Square (West SoHo). Wednesday nights at Nublu are New York City’s Brazil night.

Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was the lead designer of the United Nations headquarters. He also designed Brasilia, the Brazilian capital.

The Bossa Nova at Carnegie Hall concert in 1962 popularized bossa nova around the world.

Brazilian New Yorkers

João De Matos hosts the Brazilian Day festival. Renowned artist Vik Muniz splits his time between New York City and Brazil. Dance Theatre of Harlem has some wonderful Brazilian dancers. Forro in the Dark is a great Brazilian club forro band. Bossa nova singer Bebel Gilberto splits her time between New York and the world. Geova makes incredible handmade fashion in the East Village. Marguerita Bornstein is a famous Brazilian illustrator and cartoonist living in Brooklyn.

Can you believe we are blessed with two Brazilian women’s drum corps? Fogo Azul NYC is a samba drum line. Batalá New York is a samba reggae drum line.

The Brazilian World

Many amazing Brazilian artists visit New York City. The New York Cosmos soccer team peaked when Pelé played for them in 1975-77.

Carmen Miranda popularized samba worldwide from the 1930s to the 1950s. People laugh at her fruit hat and silly image, but at her peak she was laughing all the way to the bank as the the highest paid woman in Hollywood. People came to resent her image, but perhaps we shouldn’t blame her for making the best of the limitations that were put on Latin women in that era. She was a pioneer in a tough time.

Brazil has important modern artists including Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Tarsila do Amaral and Hélio Oiticica. As their careers developed, they all seemed to use their fame to promote social justice. The Sylvio Perlstein Collection is one of the most important Brazilian art collections.

Sebastião Salgado is a world-renowned Brazilian photographer. Valdir Cruz is famous for his Indigenous and gaucho photography.

Seu Jorge

Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Town Hall
MIDTOWN, NYC
The Brazilian samba star and actor visits with a friend. Anat Cohen & Choro Aventuroso open.

Continue Reading Seu Jorge

Tulipa Ruiz

Thursday, August 1, 2019
LINCOLN CENTER ~ The multi-talented, Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian singer-songwriter of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) plays a free acoustic concert at the David Rubenstein Atrium

Continue Reading Tulipa Ruiz

Alceu Valença

Saturday, July 27, 2019
CENTRAL PARK, NYC ~ One of the elders of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) brings the sounds of Pernambuco in Northeast Brazil to Brasil SummerFest at Central Park SummerStage

Continue Reading Alceu Valença

Paulo Laport

EDELMAN ARTS, UPPER EAST SIDE, May 29-July 13, 2013 ~ Paulo Laport’s paintings are like a crystal ball. At a glance it’s just a piece of glass, but when you stop and look inside, images appear like magic.
#BRAZILIAN #ARTIST

Continue Reading Paulo Laport

Heleno

A film about the passion, decadence and destruction of the first global sports star, Brazilian footballer Heleno de Freitas, opens December 7.

Continue Reading Heleno

Brazilian Culture

Brazil is a blend of Indigenous, Portuguese and African cultures. Indigenous communities have an impact on the culture. Brazil also has notable Japanese and Arab communities.

Brazilians love soccer and are some of the world’s best players. Brazil has the world’s biggest Carnival festival.

Churrascaria is a Brazilian grilled steak tradition. Southern Brazil has gaucho culture. Feijoada is traditional Brazilian stew.

There is so much great Brazilian music. Samba and Pagode are from Bahia. Choro is a form of Carnival music. New Orleans jazz sounds like choro. Bossa nova is the samba-jazz fusion of the 1960s that blended with rock into MPB, Música popular brasileira (Brazilian pop). Sertanejo is the Brazilian country music that is among the most popular music in Brazil now. Forró is a country dance music. Baile funk is an urban music out of the rio favelas. Brazil has strong classical music and opera traditions. Heitor Villa-Lobos is a famous classical composer.

Capoeria is a beautiful martial arts dance with an African heritage. Brazil makes great telenovelas and movies.

Candomblé is an Orisha faith with an African heritage.

Brazil

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