Dona Onete Presents the Culture and Traditions of the Brazilian Amazon in ‘Festa do Tubarão’
19 March, 2019Dona Onete’s latest video “Festa do Tubarão” (Shark Party), promises a rebujo in the music of Pará, a state in the Brazilian Amazon. Rebujo is slang to describe the currents that bring up nutrients from the river bottom. In the single, the 79-year-old singer keeps bringing up the rhythm and culture from indigenous, black and white people of the small villages in Pará.
In “Festa do Tubarão”, Dona Onete reinforces her mission of spreading to the world the folklore, culture and tradition of the north of Brazil. The single tells the story of a shark that swims into Belém’s Guajará Bay and jokes with the double meaning of the words piranha and traira (both popular Amazon fishes). The legend of a giant snake that lives under the city of Belém is also referenced in the lyrics.
The video, directed by Lírio Ferreira and Natara Ney, takes us to Combu Island, the Ver-O-Peso market, Belém suburbs and São Caetano de Odivelas, in the north-east of Pará. This small city is known for its Boi de Máscaras tradition, where in June the streets are taken over by people dancing to the sound of brass bands and wearing huge papier-mâché masks – the Cabeçudos (big heads) -, an ox costume or a Pierrô mask, a popular Venezian mask.
“Festa do Tubarão” is the first single from Dona Onete’s upcoming album, Rebujo, to be released by Mais Um Discos on May 12th.
If you want to check out more Dona Onete you can also watch the video to another track from Rebujo, “Carimbó Arrepiado”, a typical carimbó (the most famous rhythm from Pará). With puppets, the video briefly recounts the story of the singer, who at 73 became the “carimbó diva”. Dona Onete also participated in Felipe Cordeiro’s last single, “Onde é Que eu Vou Parar”, in what has been an intense start to the year for the singer.
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