We are celebrating 2 years of this website during the spring of 2019, also celebrating many cultural achievements related to forró in New York in a short span of time. Forró New York Association is born in this symbolic time of the year as a result of all that, flourishing as part of the local forró community.
In the spring of 2017, a few months after I moved to New York, I saw the potential in the scene with many good active musicians and decided to take action. I created this website and related social media channels to promote existing events online and I also started teaching dance classes, key elements that I saw missing as part of the forró movement here.
Since then I have seen many positive changes: the number of forrozeiros grew considerably, new nights of music and dance started to happen and the city became a destination for forró festivals. Much of this happened because of the work of many different people, that like myself, decided to take action and contribute to forró in New York. Many forrozeiros that were not very active saw the opportunity to fulfill their dreams as part of this growing scene, either as dance instructors, musicians, DJs or event producers.
Now, with the mission to continue building an interesting scene, fun and innovative, I decided to once again take the lead and create the Forró New York Association. An association created with the active forrozeiros in the city in mind, people interested in classes, workshops and forró events.
Inspired by successful forró movements in Europe, I realized that such an association could benefit very much the members, as well as the entire forró comunity in the city.
It has a very clear mission: unite people with common interest for forró music and dance, as well as to support the creation and continuity of classes, workshops, shows, parties and other related events.
Members will pay a fee every 6 months and will have discounts in all activities produced by forronewyork.com, as well as associated events. All money raised will be used for funding classes and workshops, producing concerts and parties related to the Forró New York Weekend (spring and fall editions). In addition, this fund should facilitate collaborative work among artists and instructors from various cities, as well as website maintenance and the creation of online content.
Members are invited to volunteer whenever needed for special events and also to help with website maintenance and other administrative-related tasks in the association. All volunteers will be rewarded with additional advantages, such as free entrance to selected workshops, classes and events.
For further readings about recent history of forró in New York, I recommend the following BLOGs:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is passionate about arts, a doctor of musical arts and a Latin Grammy nominee as a composer. For him all forms of expressions are somehow related. Based on that premise, his interest and work has a wide spectrum: from a tail tux at a concert hall, to the sandals at a worn-out dance floor. Born in Campinas, São Paulo - Brazil, now he lives at the Hudson waterfront, looking at the south of Manhattan.
Website: www.rafaelpdelima.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/rafaelpdelima
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rafaelpiccolottodelima/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RafaelPiccolottodeLima/
Revised by Silvia Sampaio de Alencar.