It is happening! This week we had our first official online class.
In a short period of time all plans changed and the digital world became a priority for us. The internet - which already had a major role in our social life - suddenly becomes our only means to interact with most people. In the current situation regarding the COVID-19 crisis, there is the opportunity to start a project that I have been thinking about for quite some time.
I really want to be able to maintain the Forró New York weekly meetings and classes, even if it means being online. And now there is also the possibility of welcoming a broader community to our activities, including people who normally would not be able to attend because of where they live.
I also started producing a permanent online course as a result of a creative solution for this problem. Yes! Besides the live stream of my classes, I'm also recording it in a way that it can be edited and become an online course.
For those of you who know me only as a forró instructor, my main career is actually as a musician - composer, arranger and music director - and I also work as an audiovisual producer. Luckily I have most of my equipment here with me, including cameras, light gear, audio interface and studio microphones. Now it's time to put it all to good use for forró!
The circumstances of the creation of this course bring a special aura to the project, both because of the historical importance of this moment, but also because of the fact that it is being recorded as part of live sessions in my apartment, without the support of any staff. It is a big challenge that brings a poetic ethos to this project.
The first class was streamed this week and had participants from New York and many other US cities, including Washington DC, San Francisco, Rochester and Virginia, also Ottawa in Canadá, and São Paulo in Brazil. I have also received emails from students interested in participating from Germany, France and even Japan!
Write to forronewyork@gmail.com and join this history!
Visit our Forró Online Class for more information.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is passionate about arts, a doctor of musical arts and a Latin Grammy nominee as a composer. For him all forms of expressions are somehow related. Based on that premise, his interest and work has a wide spectrum: from a tail tux at a concert hall, to dance shoes at a worn-out dance floor. Born in Campinas, São Paulo - Brazil, now he lives at the Hudson waterfront, looking at the south of Manhattan.
Website: www.rafaelpdelima.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/rafaelpdelima
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rafaelpiccolottodelima/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RafaelPiccolottodeLima/
Revised by Carolina Alvarez.