Bring the Queen of Samba Reggae to NYC!

Fogo Azul NYC is thrilled to welcome Brazil’s world-famous samba reggae artist Maestrina Adriana Portela to New York City for a Summer of Samba Reggae. But we need your help!  

We thank you in advance for your help funding her housing, city-wide transportation, and day-to-day necessities.  Deductions are tax deductible via this fundraiser.  

You'll be able to see her lead FogoAzul NYC and friends in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade on June 18th, Make Music NY under the unisphere on June 21st, the NYC Dyke march on June 25th, the 4th of July Parade in Ridgefield Park, NJ on July 4th, and many more! We plan on doing public workshops with her as well for all.  Stay tuned!

 

Portela is the pioneering artistic director of Banda Didá, Brazil’s first all-female Afro-Brazilian percussion band, and the first Black female conductor in the history of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. As Didá’s dynamic leader, she also leads a movement of resistance, combatting Brazil’s long history of racism and anti-feminism with music, community and education.

 

Didás drums  channel a warrior spirit that says “We are here and you cannot ignore us.” In the quarter-century since Didá’s creation , over 2000 young Salvadoran women of color have gained confidence and strength through the powerful drums that become extensions of their physical bodies.

 

In February 2020, Maestrina Portela led the largest-ever contingent of women drummers in Salvador’s world-famous Carnival. Fogo Azul drummers joined Banda Didà, along with other women drummers from Europe to mark this moment in Brazilian history – and we eagerly await Adriana’s arrival in the US.

 

While here, Maestrina Portela will offer her singular musical contributions through public workshops and events. She will also join Fogo Azul at events, marches, parades and other celebrations. Her 2022 tour also includes France, Spain and Canada.

Please help us bring Adriana’s incredible music, inspiring artistry and powerful Brazilian feminist social movement to New York’s neighborhoods this summer.

Check out a documentary of her when she was a teaching Artist at Percumon in Valencia, Spain (It's in Portuguese!)

 

 

 

Blue Fire Performing Arts, Inc DBA FogoAzul NYC strives for public/community access to the performing arts, to raise cultural artistic awareness, and promote community engagement, with a focus on recruiting and training artists who are women, minorities, and young people. We aim to provide free and/or low cost music, dance, theater, and cultural activities in public venues: concerts, performances, social events, and exhibitions. Additionally, we provide free and/or low cost performing arts and cultural didactic programs, workshops, and seminars to the public, with a focus on seeking out and promoting unique performing arts partnerships with women and other minority artists, while increasing performing arts opportunities for women, young people, and minority artists via public outreach and engagement.