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Legacy Oral History Online Collection

Jefe Guimares

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Jefé Guimares (1950-1993) danced and performed with several Bay Area Brazilian dance companies. He choreographed, toured Canada and Columbia, taught, and coached in his short life. He introduced Frêvo, the Umbrella Dance of his native Olinda, Pernambuco in Northeastern Brazil, to the Bay Area while dancing with San Francisco’s Batacujé. Guimares straddled the divide between sacred and secular dance. A practitioner of Condomblé, an African Diasporic religion, Guimares struck a balance between honoring the spiritual intention behind much Afro-Brazilian dance and sharing the art of the dance in the secular space of the classroom.

Audio Clip and Transcript

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