Brazil Day at LACMA

This month I got to go to Brazil Day at LACMA and this is how it went down. 

     Beautiful is the first word that comes to mind when I went to the Brazil Day event at LACMA on a warm September day. There were so many people crowded around food booths that were full of delicious smelling barbecue flavors. The band on stage had music as vibrant as the awesome colors of the costumed dancers behind the stage. It was more than I was expecting to see and that made it more fun.

     We went straight for the tables with head dresses and jewelry because it's what I think of when I imagine anything about Brazil. To say I am a fashion nerd would be putting it lightly. There were bracelets with Brazil's flag beaded into them and ones with reddish brown beads that made me think of coffee bean cherries. I wanted to buy them but also wanted to try out the face painting. I asked for a tiger design and the woman did a brilliant job of using sun shapes through out to represent tiger stripes. I also got a little tiger puppet that my BF named Antonio. 

     Puppets are popular in Mexican culture too. I found out through my mom who has one her great uncle made her named Pepino,tho it was made completely of wood and string. Thats what initially drew me to the puppet booth with all the various animals like the white tiger,a pink cat and other fluffy puppets. The thing I liked most was that they had all cloth bodies and wooden feet that I started using to have Antonio dance to the parade music. 

     The parade was what we were waiting to see all day and it took a min to get started because there were lots of excited guests standing in the dance path way. Once it got started the ladies in bell shaped dresses spun out, there were samba dancers in heels and even cute little kids dancing in bright sparkly tops and pants. What made it really great aside from the clothes was that all the dancers were smiling. I know in class that some of us,including me, tend not to smile during the dances. Speaking for my self I know it's because I can be a perfectionist about so many thing it's hard to be ok when I mess up. But from watching them I'm learning that even if there were any missteps how would I know? Everyone was just enjoying the dance for what it is,art.