Versificando (2009) Directed by Pedro Caldas and Produced by 13 Produções

Daniel Sharp

Abstract


This essay reviews the recent documentary Versificando directed by Pedro Caldas, a film that explores the entanglement of music, speech, improvisation and national identity in Brazil. Versificando focuses on five disparate genres of vocal improvisation currently practiced in São Paulo state: embolada, cantoria de viola, freestyle hip-hop, partido alto samba, and cururu. The essay addresses how the celebratory film attempts to unite these disparate genres, recontextualizing them within a register of national patrimony.

Keywords


Voice; Vocal Improvisation; Popular Music; Brazil; Samba; Hip-hop

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Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation is generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (through both its Major Collaborative Research Initiatives and Aid to Scholarly Journals programs) and by the University of Guelph Library.
ISSN: 1712-0624