Renata Rosa grasps the mystic universe within the traditional chants Read Full Bio ↴Renata Rosa grasps the mystic universe within the traditional chants
from Brazil's Northeast, highlighting the less regarded feminine
influences of the outback's popular culture.

Born in Sao Paulo, the composer and musician has gathered a vast array
of rhythmical, poetical structures, canons and voice dialogues from
the grassroot music of the Northeast. Her songs are inspired by
the Maracatu Rural, the Coco and the Cavalo Marinho, amongst others,
and reveal the richness of these traditions, exposing an authentic
repertoire made up of her own compositions, young and old composers
as well as songs that are now in the public domain.

Listening to Renata Rosa is a groundbreaking trip into the timeless
world of the Caboclos, the Native Indians and the Africans of Brazil.
Renata Rosa's performance intertwines the best of the Northeast music
with its dances. The power within the chant is a physical consequence
of the dance, and in some songs the stage ground actually becomes
a percussion instrument, as it is stomped by the artists. Renata plays
the "rabeca" (the traditional brazilian fiddle), alongside her
musicians, Seu Luis Paixao, a native master of this traditional fiddle,
a "viola" (a rare kind of acoustic guitar), 2 percussionists and
a bass guitar.

Renata has just released an outstanding debut album "Zunido da Mata",
produced by Mestre Ambrosio's musicians. After touring and teaching
her art in Italy, USA and Canada, Renata Rosa and band is now ready
to hit international roads, opening new horizons for Brazilian music.

Ms Rosa will teach the Samba de Coco, which is a variation of the Coco.
The origin of Coco lays on the meeting between the native Brazilian
culture and the central African culture, which came with the slaves to
the Northeast of Brazil and involves the circular dance that sights
the ground. The dance has a variety of steps, which the function is
the percussion and are connect to the poetry. Traditionally, the dance
is connected to the construction of houses made by clay and straw. The
owner of the house calls the people of the community to do the Coco
inside the house on the clay floor. While everyone is dancing, singing
and making percussion sounds with their feet, the clay is flattened to
ground level. Renata's workshop will work with the circular dance and
the relationship between the dance, the feet percussion and the poetic
aspects of the music.

Renata Rosa, musician, singer, poet and researcher, was born in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1973. She is part of the "Maracatu de Baque
Solto Estrela de Ouro de Aliança", as Dama do Cacho, one of the
responsibles for the evolution of the maracatu - a traditional carnival
parade from the State of Pernambuco (NE), in which dance, improvised
poetry and music are included. "Maracatu" aggregates elements from
black, indigenous and iberic culture. She also conducts the Boi
da Gurita Seca group, in which she improvises poetry following
the musical and poetic tradition of the "maracatu rural".

She develops research on cultural manifestations of the people from
northeast. Some of her studies are focused on "coco", work chants
and traditional catholic chants such as "Benditos" - which are
performed during the traditional catholic parades - and "excelencia
chants" - chants to prepare the deads' soul to the encounter with
God, usually performed during death-watches.

Renata Rosa has been providing workshops in many Festivals and
Centers: Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio) , Cathedral St John
the Divine (NY), Festival de Inverno de Garanhuns, (PE), Teatro
Arraial (Recife) , Studio Casa de Pedra (Rio de Janeiro),etc.

Imbarabaô
Renata Rosa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Imbarabaô, ouvi teu cantar
Embalava aos ventos primeiros
Imbará se aventurou pelo ar
Com a vida nos seus cabelos

Imbarabaô iarateia
Imbarabaô iarateia
Imbarabaô iarateia

Imbarabaô iarateia

Imbarabaô iarata
Imbarabaô arata
Imbarabaô iarateia
Imbarabaô iarateia

Imbarabaô, eu vim acampar
Sobre a sombra do teu celeiro
E que eu encontrei do lado de cá
Tua sorte de mensageiro

Imbarabaô iarata
Imbarabaô iarata

Imbarabaô iarateia
Imbarabaô iarateia

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Renata Rosa's "Imbarabaô" are a tribute to the Imbará, a sacred plant that is important in the traditions of the indigenous people of Brazil. The song begins by describing the beautiful singing of the Imbará, which is carried by the wind. It then goes on to describe how Imbará flies through the air with life in its hair. This reference to life in its hair is a nod to the medicinal and spiritual properties that the Imbará is believed to possess. In the following stanza, the singer says that she has come to camp under the shadow of the Imbará's house, and has found the Imbará's luck or fortune.

The repeated melody of "Iarateia" is a form of a lullaby or a chant, and is a nod to the Imbará's ability to soothe and heal. The word itself is a reference to the imitative sounds made by the Imbará during the wind's carrying the sound through the forest. Overall, this song is a beautiful tribute to the healing power of nature, and to the importance of the Imbará in the spiritual beliefs and practices of the indigenous people of Brazil.

Line by Line Meaning

Imbarabaô, ouvi teu cantar
I heard your song, Imbarabaô

Embalava aos ventos primeiros
It was carried by the first winds

Imbará se aventurou pelo ar
Imbará ventured through the air

Com a vida nos seus cabelos
With life in its hair

Imbarabaô iarateia
Imbarabaô calls out

Imbarabaô iarata
Imbarabaô summons

Imbarabaô, eu vim acampar
I came to camp, Imbarabaô

Sobre a sombra do teu celeiro
Under the shelter of your barn

E que eu encontrei do lado de cá
And what I found on this side

Tua sorte de mensageiro
Your luck as a messenger

Writer(s): Renata Rosa, Hugo Lins

Contributed by Colin F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.