Faces of Love from Brazil - Virginia Rodrigues
"Faces of
Love: The Show", organized by Gitana
Production, Inc., is an annual performance which takes on different themes with a wide ranging field of dancers, musicians and actors from across the world.
This year's show Faces of Love from Brazil connects the audience with the basic grounding for all Brazilian music - the spiritual and musical soul of the African descendants of slavery. Virginia Rodrigues, international recording artist, made her first appearance in St. Louis on November 9, 2001 at E. Desmond Lee
Concert Hall (St. Louis Symphony Music School, 560 Trinity Avenue, University City), singing music, which represents dynamic traditional Brazilian sounds, as well as sacred music of the Condomble religion - an African derived faith unique to Brazil.
Virginia Rodrigues was joined by very talented Brazilian musicians, including percussionist Ronaldinho Silva, acoustic guitarist Luis Brazil and saxophonist and flutist Raul Mascarenhas.
Virginia Rodrigues has toured throughout Europe and the US to capacity crowds wherever she goes. Her voice has been compared to Jessye Norman, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith. Her music attracts classical music and opera fans as well as jazz and blues devotees. Virginia has a "remarkable, honey-dipped voice that can both shake and comfort the soul. Her serene contralto startles in its solemn clarity and as she sings shimmying spirituals that ground subtle bossa nova grooves with the stark and elastic Afro-Brazilian rhythms of her Bahian heritage." (Weiler, Susan. World Music, 2001)
Virginia Rodrigues was raised in the slums of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil and dropped out of school at a young age in order to help her family survive. She worked as a domestic and manicurist from the age of 12. Her artistic potential became clear as a youngster singing in Catholic and Protestant Churches. Like many Brazilians, Rodrigues also belongs to the religion of Condomble, a religion derived from the African Yoruba faith.
Rodrigues' talent was undeniable and eventually led her to the stage. During her performance of "Veronica" in an Olodum Theatre company production, her extraordinary performance moved Brazil's famous singer Caetano Veloso to tears. Velosa became her mentor and sponsor. The rest is history. Her support lead to Rodrigues' stunning debut album "SOL NEGRO", which was released in 1998 on Hannibal Records. "SOL NEGRO" blends the ancient and modern with the secular and sacred, resulting in an unexpected and outstanding album.
The New York Times calls Virginia Rodrigues the critically acclaimed "new voice of Brazilian music" and commented about her New York performance, "Virginia Rodrigues held the audience spellbound."
Virginia Rodrigues' has been the subject of a CBS "Sunday Morning" profile and has performed on PBS and NBC's "The Today Show".
Ms. Rodrigues' most recent album "NOS", meaning "us", is a tribute to the Carnival music of the Bahia region of Brazil. In "NOS", one can hear the stunning "Chamber -samba" style of Ms. Rodrigues set to the music of famous Carnaval groups such as Afrekete, Olodum and Ile Aye.
Gitana (pronounced HE TAH NA) is a St. Louis based production company which brings a global vision of music, dance and drama to our community. We provide a rarely seen diversity on stage taking our audience on a journey which stimulates the mind, touches the heart and stirs the soul! Passion, energy and true emotion have always formulated a commonality for all men and women - it's a simple yet complex matter of converting those resources to an artistic format which embraces cultural diversity and moves people.
To contact Gitana, please call (314) 721-6556 or e-mail at gitana@stlouis.missouri.org. |
