Afoxé
Afoxé [afu∫e:] denotes a vessel rattle , a rhythm and a dance and music formation at the carnival in Brazilian music .
instrument
All meanings are derived from the rattle Afoxé , which only bears this name in the Candomblé music of the Brazilian northeast and is otherwise referred to as Xequerê . The shaking instrument, which occurs in many African and Latin American musical cultures, consists of a calabash (an empty, dry and hard pumpkin fruit) around which a net of pearls or cowrie shells is stretched. The Afoxé sets the pulse of the music.
rhythm
Strictly speaking, calling Afoxé a rhythm is incorrect, because it is actually called Ijexá in Candomblé music . Only the entirety of music, dance and singing when moving is called Afoxé. Nonetheless, Afoxé is often equated with the Ijexá rhythm, even among Brazilians.
The blocos implement the Ijexá rhythm, which is played in the Candomblé de Angola with the hands on the atabaques and bell, on the instruments of a large bateria : surdos , timbas , afoxé (shékere), snare and agogô .
Bloco
Afoxé-Blocos can be found in northeastern Brazil, v. a. in Salvador da Bahia , but also in Fortaleza and Pernambuco , some have also established themselves in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo .
An Afoxé bloco consists of dancers and a larger drum group. Songs, rhythm and dance are dedicated to the Candomblé goddess Oxum , so the color of the costumes is white with gold or blue jewelry. The songs are sung in Yoruba , the language of the African origins of Candomblé. Before the move, a religious ceremony is usually carried out in the respective terreiro . The origin of the Candomblé religion can also be read in the alternative name Candomblé de rua . They were created by the desire of the members of a terreiro (place of practice of the candomblé ) to show presence on the streets during the carnival.
The group Filhos de Gandhy ("Sons of Gandhi "), founded in 1948, was the first Afoxé at the carnival in Salvador da Bahia. Until Ilê Aiyê was the first bloco afro to put black consciousness at the center of a carnival parade in 1975 , the Filhos de Gandhy were the only carnival group that invoked African roots.
In Germany, the Bloco Afoxé Loni is under the direction of Dudu Tucci and Murah Soares at the Berlin Carnival of Cultures in the tradition of the Afoxé parades.