cluding samba, clas-

sical guitar and per-

cussion performances

as well as Brazilian

films, arts

and a vari-

ety of

children’s

activities.

Brazilian Music,

dance, workshops

and more filled Seat-

tle Center from noon

– 8 p.m. Aug. 19 at

the 9th

annual Brasil-

Fest, Brazilian Cul-

tural Festival.

The day-long event

celebrated the di-

verse cultures of Bra-

zil (Brasil in Portu-

guese) from the folk

traditions of its in-

digenous people to

the melting pot of

Europeans and even

Japanese immigrants.

BrasilFest, started

nine years ago to in-

troduce the North-

west to this wildly

diverse South Ameri-

can country.

The event included a

variety of music in-

BrasilFest 2007.

Special Guests: Grupo Brasil Tchê and Sergio Augusto.

New Jersey-based group of

11 children and 5 adults,

Brasil Tchê showcased

dances of the ―gaucho‖ or

Brazilian cowboy culture

from the far south of Bra-

zil.

Sergio Augusto gave to

Seattle classical the guitar

in the style of the famous

Bossa Nova music of Brazil

with a musician who was

enmeshed in the scene in

1960s Sao Paulo. After 25

years, he returned to the

music scene several years

ago with his clear, smooth

voice and a passion for this

soulful Brazilian music.

Brazil Center seeks to serve a broad community of all ages and backgrounds, residing in or visiting the

greater Northwest. This includes those who are curious about Brazilian culture and are looking for an

initial exposure, friends and regular guests of Brazilian cultural events, and people of Brazilian heritage.

Throughout Brazilian events in recent years, we have witnessed a growth of the Brazilian community,

especially in the Greater Seattle area.

Brazil Center News

Your Brazilian Festival of Washington State.

O seu festival brasileiro do Estado de Washington.

Inside this

issue:

History 2

What is Brasil-

Fest?

2

What is Festál? 2

Organizations 3

Performers 3

Donors 3

This is BrasilFest 4

9/04/07 Volume 1, Issue 1

Special points of

interest:

The Portuguese first

arrived in Brazil on

April 22, 1,500

The Jesuits fathers

made use of the mu-

sic to catechize the

Indians by replacing

the original words

with religious ones

using Tupi-Guaraní

language

BrasilFest was cre-

ated in 1999 by Bra-

zilian immigrants

Eduardo and Ana

Paula Mendonça

with the mission to

expose our commu-

nity to Brazilian arts

and traditions dur-

ing the week of the

Brazilian Folklore

Day. This is a

unique mission, as this

day is not usually cele-

brated outside of Bra-

zil. In Brazil, this event

is an important educa-

tional tool in continu-

ing Brazilian folkloric

traditions. BrasilFest

mission goes

beyond keep-

ing traditions

alive; it com-

bines tradi-

tional and

contemporary

Brazilian ex-

pressions.

Under umbrella of Ba-

hia Street, a Seattle

nonprofit organization

led by Dr. Margaret

Willson, BrasilFest de-

buts its first Festival

with the presence of

Dori Caymme (photo)

as special guest artist.

From 2000 to

2003, our um-

brella organiza-

tion was Ethnic

Heritage Council

that still sup-

porting Brasil-

Fest as organi-

zation until the present

days.

In 2004, Brazil Center

was formed as a non-

profit organization ac-

quiring the federal 501

(C3) status.

namic and varied com-

munity.

This collection of

events is produced by

Seattle Center and indi-

vidual cultural organi-

zations, and is pre-

sented by The Seattle

Times with generous

support from Safeco

Insurance, Toyota,

Wells Fargo and KUOW

94.9 FM. Additional

Seattle Center's Safeco

Insurance Festál pre-

sented by The Seattle

Times is a year-long

series of world cultural

events that honors the

richness and diversity

of the Pacific North-

west.

Safeco Insurance Festál

plays a vital part of Se-

attle Center's role in

connecting our dy-

support is provided by

Verizon Wireless, The

Paul G. Allen Family

Foundation, The Boeing

Company, Seattle Cen-

ter Fund, the City of

Seattle and Seattle's

Child.

BrasilFest is part of

Festál.

History

What is Festál?

sent a broad repertoire

of traditional and con-

temporary Brazilian ex-

pressions as well as

traditional folkloric per-

formers. BrasilFest

leads you to experience

all that this exuberant

and vivid culture has to

offer, from Capoeira

(Brazilian martial arts),

demonstrations and

workshops for all ages,

Samba workshops, chil-

dren's activities, Brazil-

ian instruments, arts

and crafts, photo exhib-

its and films. BrasilFest

is the first annual cele-

bration of Brazilian cul-

ture in Washington

State, drawing a signifi-

cant audience. Regard-

less of the size of the

community, BrasilFest

has a significant contri-

bution to make to our

community.

What is BrasilFest?

BrasilFest (Brazil

spelled with an "S" in

Portuguese). The lively

world of Brazilian arts

and culture fills Seattle

Center with a sultry dis-

play of South American

soul, Brazilian style.

This one-day extrava-

ganza offers continu-

ous music, dance,

workshops and per-

formance that repre-

Page 2 Brazil Center News

Celebrating the cultural

diversity of Seattle.

Eduardo (right) and Ana

Paula Mendonça (left) -- in

the center Gary Locke, then

Washington State Gover-

nor

“Brazil is a huge

country,” said

Eduardo Mendonça,

festival

organizer. “Each

region of Brazil

has its own

cultural aspects

and influences.”

Mendonça, a

Brazilian native

and musician,

started BrasilFest

with his wife Ana

Paula nine years

ago to introduce

the Northwest to

this wildly

diverse South

American country.

BrasilFest is produced by

Brazil Center,

Show Brazil Productions,

and presented by Seattle

Center's Festál,

Ethinic Heritage Council,

and The Seattle Times.

BrasilFest 2006 and 2007

also is supported by Wash-

ington State Arts Commission

Fest 2006, and Glória Brown

received the award

―Personality BrasilFest 2006‖

SCENIC BACKDROP

―Northeastern Brazil‖ is the

colorful acrylic stager back-

drop for the BrasilFest. The

vivid murals celebrated Bra-

silFest’s 5th

year at the Seattle

Center. It is a creation of the

artist Maria da Glória, of

Bothell, Washington.

It is a tribute to the untiring

efforts of BrasilFest’s foun-

ders, Eduardo and Ana Paula

Mendonça, as they have faith-

We are

thankful

to Terry

Brown

and Maria

da Glória

Brown for

their con-

tinued

support

to Brasil-

Fest.

Photos: Terry Brown at Brasil-

fully sought to share a por-

tion of Brazil’s rich cultural

heritage with US audiences in

their performances, year af-

ter year. It is also intended to

be as a giant thank you to all

of BrasilFest’s talented per-

formers from over the years.

It was done with the aid of

another Brazilian-born

painter, Ms. Nilza Lessa (Rio

de Janeiro).

For more about the mural,

please visit:

www.brasilfest.com

Organizations who helps to produce BrasilFest?

Donors

Batucada

Yemanjá,

Show

Brazil!,

Fofinho and Samia,

ICAF Capoeira

Angola Foun-

dation),

Ocheami,

and Dora

Oliveira.

Performers

BrasilFest local performers

donate their times since our

first festival. We want to

change it in the future by

providing any kind of finan-

cial support recognizing what

they do for our community.

On our first news letter, we

would like to acknowledge

those that performing at our

festival for nine years in a

roll. These pioneers and con-

tinued supporters are:

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

BrasilFest—Bringing the cul-

ture of Brazil to the United

States

Mural by Maria da

Glória Brown.

“Performers

gives a special

soul to

BrasilFest”

It is BrasilFest!

P.O.Box 2242

Kirkland, WA 98083—2242—USA

(425) 254-1616

WWW.BRAZILCENTER.ORG

The mission of BrasilFest is to

expose our community to Bra-

zilian arts and traditions during

the week of the Brazilian Folk-

lore Day (August 22). This is a

unique mission, as this day is

not usually celebrated outside

of Brazil. In Brazil, this event is

an important educational tool

in continuing Brazilian folkloric

traditions. Our mission goes

beyond keeping traditions

alive, and combines traditional

and contemporary Brazilian

expressions. It provides an op-

portunity to bring together all

artists and organizations con-

cerned with Brazil and to unite

them in one venue. Thereby we

hope to increase the visibility

of the Brazilian cultural land-

scape to our community.

Brazil Center BrasilFest!

One day of Brazilian music, dancing, food,

workshops and films!

SAVE THE DATE!

14th Annual BrasilFest

Sunday, August 5th 2012

It is not a dream.

It is reality!

KEEP IT ALIVE, PLEASE MAKE YOUR DONATION!

Brazil Center is a federally registered 501 (C3) nonprofit organization, and all dona-

tions to BrasilFest are tax deductible.

OBRIGADO! THANKS!

To donate, please contact Ana Paula Mendonça (425) 254-1616

E-mail: ana.mendonca@brazilcenter.org