FORRÓ IN TORONTO: WORKSHOPS, EVENTS, AND COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Looking to dance forró in Toronto?
Connect with the local community, watch moments from Rafael’s workshops and musical collaborations, and explore ways to keep learning.
KEEP DANCING FORRÓ IN TORONTO
LOCAL COMMUNITY
Explore Forró For All, the Toronto community that collaborated with Rafael on his teaching visits, for information about its activities.
DANCE & MUSIC
Watch workshop demonstrations with Rafael and Camila Alves and a performance of Forró Sem Palavras at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
FUTURE VISITS
Join the newsletter for news of future workshops and musical collaborations in Toronto.
A CONNECTION THROUGH DANCE AND MUSIC
Rafael’s visits to Toronto brought together two closely connected parts of his work: teaching forró and sharing its musical traditions through live performance.
Local collaboration made both visits possible. Forró For All, a volunteer-run community founded by University of Toronto exchange students, provided a connection with dancers in the city.
These relationships created opportunities to learn together, spend time on the dance floor, and connect with Toronto’s musicians.
TORONTO COLLABORATION ARCHIVE
SEPTEMBER 20–22, 2019 - TORONTO FORRÓ WEEKEND
Rafael visited Toronto with guest teacher Camila Alves for a weekend of workshops and community activities developed in collaboration with Forró For All.
The program combined classroom learning with social dancing, bringing participants together across different settings throughout the weekend. Rafael and Camila shared their teaching and demonstrated how the material explored in class could take shape in a dance.
Two recordings preserve moments from this visit: a demonstration at the opening party and another during Saturday’s workshop.
OPENING PARTY WITH RAFAEL AND CAMILA
A dance demonstration with Rafael and Camila Alves during the opening party of the 2019 Toronto Forró Weekend.
SATURDAY WORKSHOP DEMONSTRATION
Recorded during Saturday’s workshop, this demonstration with Rafael and Camila Alves documents part of the educational exchange with Toronto’s dancers.
FORRÓ SEM PALAVRAS AT LULA LOUNGE
The 2019 weekend also included the Toronto debut of Forró Sem Palavras at Lula Lounge, performed with local musicians.
The project had made its Canadian debut earlier that year at the Montreal Forró Festival. Its arrival in Toronto extended that exchange, bringing Rafael’s musical work into contact with another community of musicians and dancers.
Forró Sem Palavras explores the musical language of forró through instrumental arrangements and different ensemble settings. Alongside the workshops, the concert offered another way to experience the music at the center of the dance.
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2022 - A RETURN TO TEACHING AND PERFORMANCE
Rafael returned to Toronto in June 2022 to participate in the TD Toronto Jazz Festival and reconnect with the local forró community.
During the trip, he taught a workshop organized independently with Forró For All. This continued the educational relationship established in 2019, bringing him back into the classroom with dancers in the city.
The workshop and festival appearance were separate activities within the same visit, connecting community-based teaching with a public musical presentation.
FORRÓ SEM PALAVRAS AT THE TD TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL
On June 26, 2022, Rafael appeared as a guest composer, arranger, and conductor in Um Grande Encontro at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
Presented on the TD Main Stage on The Block, the concert brought his compositions and arrangements associated with Forró Sem Palavras to an ensemble of 13 Toronto musicians, with a guest appearance by A Fantástica Bateria and musical direction by Alan Hetherington.
The recording below preserves part of this collaboration and the meeting between Rafael’s musical work and Toronto’s performers.
DOCUMENTATION AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The Toronto visits brought together dance education and live music, documented through photographs, workshop and social dance demonstrations with Camila Alves, and a recording of Forró Sem Palavras at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
Together, these materials preserve Rafael’s collaborations with Forró For All and local musicians, connecting classroom learning, social dancing, and musical performance.
The workshop videos remain freely available through the Forró New York YouTube channel.
CONTINUING THE EXCHANGE
The visits in 2019 and 2022 established a relationship with Toronto through workshops, local partnerships, and live music.
Forró New York remains based in New York City. Rafael’s teaching activities in Toronto have taken place through collaborations with the local community, and there is currently no new visit announced.
Join the Forró New York newsletter to receive updates about future workshops, performances, and visits.
Learn more about forró communities in the United States and Canada, explore the story behind Forró Sem Palavras, and discover other educational collaborations beyond New York City.
→ EXPLORE FORRÓ BEYOND NEW YORK
→ READ ABOUT FORRÓ IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
→ EXPLORE THE GLOBAL FORRÓ COMMUNITY