Boi Curumim de Nazaré: um relato sobre a cultura popular tradicional de uma comunidade ribeirinha

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate and describe how a riverside community located in the rural area of Porto Velho, Rondônia, known as Nazaré, produces culture and, more specifically, performs the Boi Curumim, a popular cultural manifestation closely related to Bumba-meu-boi and Boi-Bumbá traditions. To this end, a study was conducted on traditional and riverside communities, as well as on the community of Nazaré, focusing on its cultural practices, musical manifestations, and modes of teaching and learning. Initially, an account is presented of my arrival in the community through NAPRA (Núcleo de Apoio às Comunidades Ribeirinhas da Amazônia – Center for Support to Amazonian Riverside Communities), an organization that operates in the region. Subsequently, the study discusses traditional and riverside populations and contextualizes the community of Nazaré based on surveys conducted by NAPRA and official sources. To support an understanding of research relating riverside communities to music education, a bibliographic survey was carried out to identify articles addressing the themes of Traditional Popular Culture and Music Education in four journals dedicated to Music, Education, and Culture. In order to understand and present the community of Nazaré, its cultural activities, aspects of its way of life, and especially the Boi Curumim tradition, field notes were recorded during immersion in the community, documenting the researcher’s observations. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with community members (children and adults) and NAPRA members regarding their participation in Boi Curumim. These data contributed to the description of both the preparation process and the performance of the Boi Curumim of Nazaré. The theoretical framework adopted was based on NAPRA’s perspective on Popular Education. From this standpoint, the collected data were analyzed, discussed, and interpreted. Without intending to provide definitive conclusions, the final considerations highlight the need for music educators to “expose themselves” (in Bondía’s terms) to diverse musical and cultural manifestations, valuing traditional Brazilian culture in order to develop creative, integrative, and multicultural approaches to music teaching.