Today there are around 14 Maracatu Nações playing in Recife and Olinda, the oldest of which being Maracatu Nação Elefante founded in 1800. Other groups include Maracatu Nação Estrela Brilhante do Recife (founded by former slaves in 1906), Maracatu Nação Cambinda Estrela and Maracatu Nação Almirante do Forte (both founded in 1935), and more recently Maracatu Nação Encanto da Alegria (1998).
In the 1990s artists such as ‘Chico Science & Nação Zumbi’ and ‘Mundo Livre S/A’ fronted a movement where traditional Brazilian rhythms such as Maracatu, Forró, Coco and Baião were mixed with modern styles such as dub, reggae and rock to create manguebeat. Maracatu continues to evolve today, with a number of modern percussion and rock groups using the traditional instruments to create a fresh modern sound.
Maracatu Rural:
Maracatu Rural (also known as Baque Solto), by contrast, seems an entirely different entity. It originated in the sugarcane areas of Brazil’s interior in the early 20th Century and is commonly played by farmers and local inhabitants of the Zona da Mata (the ironically named forest zone of Pernambuco). The music is exhilarating and features frantic percussion, skilful vocal duels and exciting movements where the dancers ‘charge’ at the crowd wearing extravagant intricate costumes. The dancers form complex choreographies where they run around in long lines and respond to the starts and stops from the terno (small band and mestre). These Caboclos de Lança resemble native indigenous Indian warrior figures and the style reflects the native Catimbó religion.
The costumes of the Caboclos include floral shirts, pulled up socks, trainers and brightly coloured knee length cotton trousers with tassles around the base. Next comes the heavy surrão (a large type of foam pad) which is worn on the back and has a row of large bells attached to the bottom which jangle loudly when the Caboclo moves. On top of this goes the gola, a type of cape which covers the front and back of the Caboclo and is adorned with sequins in beautiful colours and combinations. To complete the costume, a large hat called the chapéu (covered in brightly coloured cellophane strips which swish around in the wind) and the guia (a long stick covered in ribbons which the Caboclo uses like a spear).
The music features a small percussion emsemble consisting of poíca (a small friction drum with a distinctive low sound), tarol (snare drum which plays a very fast simple rhythm), bombinho (a small metal drum played on one side with a beater and the other side with a thin sticks to get a whipping sound), mineiro (a cylindrical shaker filled with metal shot or seeds) and gonguê (a double bell version carried with a shoulder strap and played with sticks in both hands). The percussionists start and stop on whistle cues by the mestre, which then introduce strong repetitive melodies by the brass section. In the pauses, vocal duels occur where the opposing mestres of each group create improvised verses.