The History of Forró New York - Articles, Videos and Community Archive
- Rafael Piccolotto de Lima
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Over the years, the Forró New York project gradually accumulated much more than weekly classes, parties, workshops, and festivals.
What also emerged along the way was a growing collection of articles, videos, photographs, interviews, flyers, playlists, reflections, and educational material connected to the development of the forró scene in New York City and beyond.
Some of these materials were created intentionally as educational resources.
Others gradually became historical records almost by accident, preserving moments that at the time simply felt like ordinary parts of community life.
Together, they document different phases of the project and part of the broader evolution of the forró scene connected to New York over the years.
This page functions as a central archive connecting part of the written, visual, and educational history surrounding Forró New York and the development of the forró scene connected to New York City.
The Origins of Forró New York (2011-2018)
A personal account of how the project emerged after my move from Brazil to the United States, tracing the transition from Campinas to Miami and eventually New York City alongside the early development of the NYC forró scene.
→ The Origins of Forró New York - A Personal Story from Campinas to NYC (2011-2018)
The Development of the Forró Scene in New York City
An overview of how the New York forró scene evolved through weekly classes, musicians, venues, festivals, workshops, collaborations, and educational initiatives across different periods before and after the pandemic.
The article also discusses the relationship between New York, New Jersey, and nearby communities connected to the regional forró scene.
Early Festival Projects and Special Events
Before the recurring structure of Forró New York Weekend became established, different experimental festival formats helped shape the development of larger events in the city.
One example was the Forrobodó NY Festival (2018), a special event dedicated to the music and cultural legacy of Luiz Gonzaga through workshops, live music, social dancing, and educational activities across multiple days in New York City.
The Development of Forró New York Weekend
Since 2019, Forró New York Weekend gradually evolved into one of the most consistent recurring forró festivals in North America.
Across multiple editions, the festival brought together dancers, instructors, musicians, DJs, and community members from different cities and countries through workshops, social dancing, parties, and live music events.
Part of this process remains documented through festival pages, articles, videos, interviews, playlists, and community testimonials published throughout the years.
Weekly Classes and Educational Development
Weekly classes became one of the central structures sustaining the project over time.
Through regular classes, guest instructors, workshops, and collaborations, hundreds of dancers passed through educational activities connected to Forró New York across different moments of the city’s development.
Part of this process remains documented through class videos, workshop footage, archival blog posts, and educational material published throughout the years.
Online Education and the Pandemic Period
During the pandemic in 2020, the interruption of in-person activities led to a rapid expansion of online educational work.
What initially began as a temporary response to lockdowns gradually developed into a large English-language archive focused on forró dance, musicality, guided practice, workshops, interviews, reaction videos, and solo training.
Recorded collaborations with artists, dancers, and teachers from different countries also became part of this growing digital archive.
The Forró New York Association
As the scene continued growing, the project also developed organizational structures intended to help sustain continuity in classes, festivals, educational activities, and community projects over time.
The Forró New York Association emerged as part of that longer-term structure.
Videos, Playlists and Community Memory
Part of the history of the project also became preserved through playlists, workshop demos, social dance videos, musicality recordings, interviews, and festival footage accumulated across YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, and the website itself.
Many of these materials were never originally intended as “historical documentation,” but today they preserve fragments of how the community, the dance, and the musical culture surrounding forró evolved over time.
A Continuing Archive
This archive is not intended to function as a complete historical record of forró in New York City.
Many important moments were never formally documented and still survive only through photographs, flyers, conversations, videos, and community memory.
Still, preserving part of this process matters.
Especially in dance communities, history often disappears quickly unless people intentionally document it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is the Founder and Educational Director of Forró New York, as well as a Latin Grammy-nominated composer, arranger, and music director.
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