Origins of Frevo
The frevo music came first. By the end of the 19th century, bands from the Brazilian Army regiments based in the city of Recife started a tradition of parading during the Carnival. Since the Carnival is originally linked to religion, they played religious procession marches and martial music, as well. A couple of regiments had famous bands which attracted lots of followers and it was just a matter of time to people start to compare one to another and cheer for their favorite bands. The two most famous bands were the Espanha (meaning Spain), whose conductor was of Spanish origin, and the 14, from the 14th regiment. The bands started to compete with each other and also started playing faster and faster, louder and louder.
Some tough men used to go ahead of the band, opening space to its parade by bullying people on the streets and threatening them with capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art and dancing) and knives. Eventually, when the bands met each other in the streets, fights between the capoeiristas were inevitable. These fights normally ended up with many wounded and even dead.
In order to end with this violence wave, the Police started to pursue the capoeiras and arrested many during their exhibitions. They reacted in a clever way by carrying umbrellas instead of knives and also disguising the capoeira movements as dance movements. The frevo dance was born.
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