Brazilian Voices

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts' Amaturo Theater is sure to shake with sweet vibrations Friday when the county's Brazilian Voices pays homage to samba music. The performance is the first time the 50-woman ensemble, directed by vocal divas Beatrice Malnic and Loren Oliveira, has tried to move and groove on stage while simultaneously presenting the diverse music that permeates the air of its mother country. Paulo Gualano and his group Unidos da Florida Samba School do most of the dancing while vocalists march in place, as if waiting their turn to burst onto the streets of a Sao Paulo carnaval. Meanwhile, well-known local musicians Paulo Carvalho, Diogo Brown, Adriano Borba, and Fabi Patino help hold down the rhythm and underlying melodies. If all that doesn't make you feel as though you've just been handed a first-class ticket to South America's largest nation, then the scenery certainly will. The set depicts landscapes and street scenes typical of the music's urban upbringing. The music interpreted at this event includes the sambas of well-known Brazilian artists such as Jorge Ben Jor, Ivan Lins, Jackson Do Pandeiro, and even Caetano Veloso, albeit with a feminine mystique.