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Fred and Ginger doing the Carioca
Carioca dance History

- The native inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil call themselves 'cariocas'. Carioca is actually a Tupi Indian or Tupian term (kara'i oca), roughly meaning "white house," or "house of whites" of the Portuguese peoples of Rio. The river near these houses became the Carioca river and so did all things related in Rio. The Carioca dance was a group dance with dancers holding hands (cordoes) and swaying to and fro to the Carioca or Samba music.

The Carioca (ballroom dance) was first heard by the masses through a song in the 1933 movie "Flying Down To Rio " with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Rogers and Astaire appropriated an earlier version of the 'Fanchon and Marco Carioca d Ance routine' from Fanchon's same named Carioca stage show, mainly because

of rehearsal issues with Fred and Ginger not having enough time to create an original. Astaire and Roger's version of the Carioca which has been modified over time, made Flying Down To Rio a huge success and Fred & Ginger a household name. It was hailed as the new ballroom dance, however it really never took off.

   One of the main reasons the dance didn't take off was the description of the dance steps were not included with the sheet music, which was becoming a popular process of not including them during the time. People had no clue how to do the dance except by taking dance lessons as the dance was to difficult to just pick up on their own. Also when the average public watched Fred and Ginger do the Carioca dance in the film, most couldn't see themselves doing it for fear of looking silly.

- The Carioca music is basically a Samba with the foreheads touching (Carioca Samba if you will) and is patterned after another Brazilian dance called the Machichi . When dancing the Ballroom Carioca, Rumba movements and Fox-trot variations are executed as well as the Samba.

Birth Place

Creation Date

Creator

Dance Type

USA 1933 Fanchon and Marco (Ballroom Vesrion) Latin
 

Posters, Lobby Cards etc.

Sheet Music Covers

Music Titles ...

n/a Carioca $ Carioca (Astaire's Version)
    $ Carioca(Luiz/Mourao)]<
            Carioca Tango (John Thompson)
            $ Ela É Carioca (Gilberto)
            $ Serenata Carioca (Lisa Ono)
 

Night Clubs

Theaters

Locations

n/a n/a Brazil
            Hollywood, CA
            Rio de Janeiro

Films / Movies

Television

Ballets / Stage

$1933 - Flying Down To Rio (Dance) 1935 - Carioca Maravilhosa 1933 - Fanchon & Marco's Carioca
1935 - Carioca Maravilhosa 1955 - Carioca Carnival (Rio)      
1936 - Noches Carioca 1955 - Sinfonia Carioca      
1941 - Carioca Serenaders (Dance) 1965 - Comédia Carioca

Publications

$1942 - Saludo Amigos (Animated) 1976 - Carioca tigre ??? $ How To Be a Carioca (Goslin)
$1945 - Three Caballeros (Disney) 1988 - Sweet Carioca ???  
1955 - Carioca Carnival (Mardis Gras)    
1955 - Sinfonia Carioca    
1965 - Comédia Carioca    

Other Related Dances of the time...

Bossa Nova Continental, the Mambo Piccolino Samba
Carioca Samba Fox-Trot Maxixe   Tango
Carioca Tango Machichi (see Maxixe) Novelette Rumba The Yam

Dancers, Choreographers etc.

Political

Carmen Miranda Mayta Palmera n/a
Fanchon and Marco ?Mesquitinha?  
Fred Astaire Norberto Nardone (Choreo)  
Ginger Rogers Original Carioca Dancers (1934)  
Hermes Pan (Choreo) Theodore Rand  
Lina de Lucca (Choreo)    

Books, Magazine Articles on the dance...

Title

Author

Date

Publisher

The Art Of Social Dancing Hostetler, Lawrence 1938 Barnes
$ Ecos Da Folia: Uma Historia Social Do Carnival Carioca Entre 1880 E 1920
Cunha,Maria Pere 2001 Companhia Das Letras

Musicians

Writers

Singers

Poets / Writers

Fernando Nazareth John Thompson Etta Moten n/a
João Gilberto     Movita  
Perez Prado            
Vincent Youmans[CD]            

Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches

Fanchon Rio Samba Danças Brasileiras
Fred Astaire Rumba cordoes    

Other...

n/a

August 1, 2006 http://www.Streetswing.com/histmain/d5index.htm

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