A gang is a folkloric dance performed during Fthese Junines, common in the months of June and July. It is danced in pairs and has the music, steps and clothing of the caipira universe as its main elements.
With European origins, the quadrilha as it is currently known has been influenced by Northeastern, indigenous and African rhythms over time. Other names given to the manifestation are: quadrilha junina and caipira gang.
Read too: Carimbó — a typical circle dance from the northeast of the state of Pará
gang summary
Quadrilha is a dance in pairs that originated in Europe, but, upon arriving in Brazil, it was transformed through Brazilian elements.
The name of the dance was created based on the French term hips.
In its beginnings, the dance was done in two rows, with four or eight couples, who formed a square, hence the name quadrilha.
Northeastern, indigenous and African rhythms were responsible for consolidating the Brazilian gang.
The gang follows a script and stages a wedding.
It has classic steps, known by all and chanted by commands such as “look at the rain” and “look at the snake”.
The gang's clothing is characterized by rural clothing: plaid shirts and colorful dresses.
The caipira music is responsible for leading the square dance.
It is a type of dance performed in different Brazil states.
Origin and history of the gang
The origin of the gang is related to the way of dancing of the country dance from the England, around the 18th century.
With the Hundred Years' War, this way of dancing was shared in France, region of Normandy. The French modified the expression and created the palace dance, practiced by the nobility of the time.
In its beginnings, the gang emerged from a dance organized in two rows, facing each other, with four or eight couples. The shape of the participants that was established in the space was a square, hence the name in French, hips.
The arrival of the gang in Brazil occurred both through from the Portuguese Royal Family, in 1808, and by enslaved Europeans who came to Brazil after the LHey Isdrunk from queirós. The Europeans brought, through the nobles or the enslaved, customs and expressions that were common there.
Court Halls in the cities of savior It is Rio de Janeiro were spaces that received square dance performances during this period. On these occasions, the presence of Dom Pedro I. The public presentation of the quadrille in these places allowed the popularization of the dance among people.
![Luar do Sertão gang group at the Regional Festival of Quadrilhas Juninas de Sobral, Ceará. [2]](/f/8de499daaf251a23434568af45fcdcdd.jpg)
With the Proclamation of the Republic, the gang became widely spread in the interior regions of Brazil.
Auguste de Saint-Hilare was one of the foreigners who described the Festas Juninas held in the Brazilian countryside in the 19th century.
Brazilian modernization, intensified since the 1950s, led to the migration of people from the countryside to the cities. In this process, the June gang passor to be shared in urban centers as a manifestation of people from the countryside, and no longer like a palace dance.
Over time, the quadrille underwent transformations in rhythm and choreographies, leaving the European characteristics. Like this, brazilian rhythms, indigenous and African Americans were incorporated into the gang, such as the xaxado, the march, the gallop, the baião and the coco.
The consolidation of the gang with Brazilian elements occurred throughout the 20th century. The work of Luiz Gonzaga, born in Pernambuco, was responsible for sharing the baião and other rhythms northeastern musicals, as well as for strengthening the Brazilian identity of the gang that is known at the moment. Gonzaga released in 1965 the vinyl record gangs and marchinhas junines. The work's musical repertoire is closely related to square dances.
Among the dances of different cultural matrices that influenced the June gang are: toré (Amerindians), contradança (Europeans) and ijexá/samba-afro (Africans).
The characteristics of the body movement of indigenous dances were responsible for the formation of the “arromba ground” style of square dancing in the 1980s.
Characteristics of the gang
Among the elements that form the gang are the steps, the clothes and the music. See each of them below.
→ gang steps
In the gang, the dance is followed based on a roadmap consisting of a set of steps that drive the movements that the participants perform.
The presentation of the gang is related to the realization of a marriage. This ceremony is associated with the matchmaker saint, Santo Antônio, honored at the Festa Junina. The engaged couple form the first couple of the presentation, that is, they determine the course of the other participants in some moments.
![Wedding couple getting ready to square dance at a Festa Junina. [4]](/f/ccaef732943b55c396271669e2a74fb9.jpg)
See the gang steps below:
Party path: beginning of the presentation, the bride and groom enter in front, followed by the other pairs, arm in arm.
Rock path: the pairs break up, standing one behind the other, in a single line.
Greeting: ladies and gentlemen separate, and one at a time greets his partner with a forward bend.
Look at the rain: participants change direction (half a turn) and put their hand on their head.
Already passed: is spoken after “look at the rain”, so everyone turns around, changing direction again.
Ladies in the center: they form a wheel in the center, while the gentlemen form a large outer wheel.
![Group dancing in a square dance competition in Pelourinho, in Salvador, Bahia. [5]](/f/b9cf2d93cff1cbf69df7a05b0ba90276.jpg)
Wreath of Roses: step made after the “ladies in the center”. The gentlemen hold hands and approach the circle of ladies, raising their arms as if it were a coronation. After that, they lower their arms, passing them forward. Thus, all intertwined can rotate in motion to the right or left.
Seesaw: they all wave their arms in time with the music.
Look at the tunnel: ladies and gentlemen face each other and hold hands forming a tunnel. The bride and groom enter the tunnel and the couples do the same in sequence.
Look at the snake: everyone jumps, screams and changes direction.
snail: tAll form a large wheel. The bride lets go of the groom's hand and pulls the others into the circle.
→ gang clothes
the gang clothes are part of the redneck reality, that is, the clothing of people who live in the countryside or who refer to life in the countryside.
Men usually wear plaid shirts, use straw hats, and also draw a mustache and goatee on their face.
The women, on the other hand, wear colorful dresses, have braids or pigtails and make freckles on their faces.
It is also common for people of the same gender to dance as a pair, however, the characteristics of the clothing remain. For example, two girls dancing together, one of them will be dressed as a gentleman.
→ gang songs
the gang songs belong to the caipira and sertanejo repertoire. The main instruments used are: accordion, viola, guitar, zabumba and triangle. Among the musical genres present in square dances are forró and baião.
Also access:Wtypical omissions of Fthese Juninas
Gangs in Brazil
The Festas Juninas with square dance performances are common in different Brazilian states. Check out the biggest Festas Juninas in Brazil, which have square dance competitions:
Feast of Saint John, Campina Grande (Paraíba)
Sao Joao do Caruaru (Pernambuco)
Bumba meu boi, São Luís (Maranhao)
Forró cashew, Aracaju (sergipe)
Mossoró city junina (large northern river)
image credits
[1] Cacio Murilo / Shutterstock
[2] Ismarirj / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
[3] Marcelle Cristinne / Government of Sergipe / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
[4] Neilton Domingues / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
[5] Mateus Pereira / Secom / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
By Lucas Afonso
Journalist and Physical Education professional
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/detalhes-festa-junina/quadrilha.htm