Touch For Health International Journal, 1990

The Brazilian Frevo DanceAs an Influencing Factor in Brain Hemisphere Integration

by Gerardo Vale

Introduction

While attending the first period of myacupunture course at the School ofAlternative Therapy in Brasilia, Brazil, therewas also being offered at the same time asubject called "Frevotherapy".

Nobody was giving the necessary importanceto the subject, although the teacher was veryinterested and aware about the kind oftherapy he was trying to convince thestudents to accept. Soon, after the first class,I became quite interested in the concept, sincealmost all the movements involved in thattherapy had some similarity with the Cross-Crawl.

On the same day, shortly after class, Idecided to have a private talk with the teacherto show my interest in discussing with himsome common aspects that I noticed betweenhis therapy and another kind of dance, theCross-Crawl, that I used in my TFH Classesto check if the brain hemispheres of mystudents were working in perfectcoordination. I also talked about the crossedmovements used in both cases: in theFrevotherapy and the Cross-Crawl.

After my explanation, I felt that the teacherdid not give much credit to what I had said,probably because my condition of a beginnerat the school.

A year later, when I had a little more sparetime to dedicate to Frevotherapy, I decided tocall again on that teacher and have someprivate classes with him. At that moment,although my special interest was to go deepinto the subject, I did not show him my realintention. In less than a month, after I hadwon over the teacher's confidence, I was notonly able to give a reasonable show ofFREVO, but also persuaded him to join myTFH courses.

This year, by January, I was surprised toreceive a telephone call from that teacher

telling me that he was interested in alsobecoming a TFH Instructor.

The Frevo, What is it?

The frevo is a kind of dance that is part of ourfolklore and had its origin in the cities orOlinda and Recife, located in the Brazilianstate of Pernambuco. 1 During the carnivals inthose cities the frevo is everyone's mostpreferred dance. The people who dance thefrevo are called "Passistas" and also"Capoeiristas''. The Passista.? who fromnow on will be referred to as the "dancer", isthe most common word, meaning the onewho dances following the specific rhythmand keeping in step with the frevo.

All over the country it seems that people donot see the frevo as a way of therapy, but as asimple dance like the samba or other kinds ofpopular dances.

The frevo, in the same way as the Samba,was responsible for the upsurging of aparticular group- formed by people interestedin popularizing this kind of dance.

We could say much more about the historyand the evolution of it, but our main goal inthis paper is to call attention to the therapeuticbenefits experienced by those who havefrequently practiced this type of dance, whichuses many crossed movements, called "frevodance steps", quite similar to the Cross-Crawl.

Traditional Frevo Dance Steps

In 1984, the leader of the Brazilian frevo,known by the title of Mestre Nascimento DoPasse+ and his follower Prof. Jorge Marino,began a survey to see how many types offrevo dance steps were practiced by Brazilianpeople.

Even though the survey had registered morethan 130 frevo dance steps, they decided todefine only 8 specific kinds, as follows:

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I. The frevo step of persons in their fifties.

2. The frevo step of the drunkard.

3. The frevo step of the caracole.

4. The frevo step of the gymnastist.

5. The frevo step of the puppet.

6. The frevo step of the child.

7. The frevo step of the woman.

8. The frevo step of the "MestreNasciamento'' .

As we see there are great varieties of dancesteps and movements in the frevo dance.However, in one musical selection we cancombine only ten different dance steps andobtain a very good result.

Since not all the dance steps are easy to learnand practice, learning techniques have beendeveloped through physical movements usingthe energy of the eyes. These techniques,created and organized by Prof. Jorge Marinohave made it possible to learn the stepmovements and the changing positions ofbalance required by the movements veryquickly and precisely.

The process of learning how to dance thefrevo at Prof. Marino's classes is very easy,since he teaches in a simple, progressive anddidactical way, always beginning withexercises of self-body massage, and givingspecial attention to foot reflexology, becausethe feet are the main tool of work used duringthe dance.

The basic Frevo Dances Steps used inFrevotherapy

The basic frevo dance steps which Prof.Marino uses to teach to his students numbertwelve, but here for the purpose of this workwe will. focus only 8 basic movements.

This whole section of Frevotherapy ispreceded by a self-massage to activate all thebody, with special attention centralized onfoot reflexology. After this preliminary care,we begin with the 2 first frevo dance steps toheat up the feet articulations, to release thetensions from the shoulders, and finally,

when the dance is practiced in the evening, torelax the whole body from the stresseseventually accumulated during the day.

The rest of the frevo dance steps combine thespecific rhythm of the dance with somecrossed movements similar to the Cross-Crawl. Following this sequence, we willshow and describe the basic frevo dancesteps above mentioned, as we make somecomments related to each movement and itstherapeutic benefits in all dimensions of thebody.

First: Rhythm

a. The Goal: This first frevo dance step isthe most important one, because its aimis to assimilate the rhythm of the frevodance and to provide the necessary andquick heating to the feet articulations,shoulders and arms. While beating therhythm with the feet, the dancer is taughtto make good use of the moment torecognize his area and space that he isallowed.

b. Movements: See figures A,B,C and D inillustration (1).

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Improvements ofthe flow of energy in all the meridiansthat begin or end at the toes andstimulation of the energy of the eyes,ears, lungs, heart and thymus, besidesthe release of muocle tensions.

Second: The Tip of the Foot at theToes

a. The Goal: To heat and stretch thefollowing muscles of the feet: extensordigitorum brevis, extensor hallucis andanterior tibial. The movement induced bythis frevo dance step improves theflexibility of the metatarsus and anklearticulations.

b. Moyements: See figures A and B ofillustration (2).

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Stimulation of theenergy of the eyes, ears, and breast. Thesimultaneous up and down movement ofthe shoulders during the dancecontributes to release all the tensionlocated in one's back.

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A

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B c

B c

A

®

A B

D A B

A

A B

B

®A B

THE CROSSED MOVEMENTS OF THE BRAZILIAN FREVO

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Third: To Pretend You Are GoingForward, But In Reality YouReturn To Original StartingPosition.

a. The Goal: Since this is a relaxing andplayful frevo dance step, it gives thedancer the chance to think about the nextstep and also to rest a little whilechanging from one frevo dance step tothe next.

b. Moyements: See figures A, B, and C ofillustration (3).

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Relief of thetensions located at the upper part of theback region, and activation of the energyof the liver, eyes, ears, and chest.

Fourth: The Foot and Heel Tips

a. The Goal: to complete the heating of thebody.

b. Movements: See figures A and B,illustration (4)

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Stimulation of theliver and of the centers of energy of themuscles located at the back body. It isalso good for rejuvenation.

Fifth: The Bolt

a. The Goal: To develop the coordinationof the physical movements.

b. Movements: See figures A and B ofillustration(5)

c. Therapeutics Benefitss: Harmonizationof the left-right brain energy andstimulation of the energy in the vision,audition. It is also good for rejuvenation

Sixth: Saci 5

a. The Goal: To open space in a crowd,especially at clubhouses during thecarnival parties. This exercise isexcellent to remodel the waistline and thelegs.

b. Moyements: See figures A and B ofillustration (6).

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Activation of theenergy of the back muscles of the bodyand balancing of the nervous system,besides the stimulation of the energy ofthe ears, eyes, nose, brain, hypophysis,and pituitary glands.

Seventh: Kicking to the Side

a. The Goal: To also open the space in thecrowd and to exercise the movementcoordination.

b. Movements: See figures A and B ofillustration (7)

c. Therapeutic Benefits: Activation of themuscle energy of the back body,balancing of the nervous system, andstimulation of the energy in the vision,hearing and brain functions.

Eighth: Kicking to the Front

a. The Goal: The same as described in thepreceding frevo dance step

b. Movements: See figures A and B ofillustration (8)

c. TherapeuticBenefits:Balancingthe brainhemisphereic energy and stimulation ofthe energy in the vision and hearing aswell as the energy of hypophysis andpituitary glands.

Conclusion

In accordance with Prof. Jorge Marino, allhis students of Frevotherapy are unanimousin declaring that just after the first couple ofweeks of practicing the frevo dance, thepositive results are clearly felt, especially inthe physical body. The greatest evidence inthis dimension of the body is the increase invital energy, reflecting in the general healthand well-being. And after a month or more ofpracticing the frevo dance, other results areregistered, like "losing weight, decreasing oftensions, postural and body flexibilityimprovements" and also, in many cases anappreciable improvement in the sexualperformance.

The therapeutic benefits of the frevo dance Ihave experienced up to now correspond withand even transcend those reported by Prof.

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Jorge Marino. After less than a couple ofmonths of Frevotherapy I began to feel aconsiderable enhancement in all my organicfunctions and in the general well-being,besides a significant improvement in thephysical and intellectual activities, withoutmentioning other positive results withsensible reflexes in the emotional field

In my opinion, the frevo dance can be usedas an alternative to Dr. Paul Dennison's BrainGym, because people who practice it usuallyshow high levels of improvement in theperformance of their physical and intellectualactivities. It seems that the variation ofcrossing movements they do when theydance have the power of creating the sameresults like those afforded by Edu-Kexercises. 6

Even though nothing has been mentionedabout brain hemisphere integration in thefrevo dancer's reports, I have come toobjective conclusion when muscle testingchildren who practice frevo dance and havesome dyslexic problems. At the end of somesections of Frevotherapy, after muscle testingthem, I have verified that they presented anew and different result in their right-leftcoordination.

That was the reason why I have begunworking with the hypothesis of Frevotherapybeing an interesting and exciting alternative toDr. Paul Dennison's Brain Gym, since thisdance with its crossed movements has thepower of conditioning and reinforcing thebrain hemisphere integration as well asproviding effective and satisfying physicalexercise.

Notes

1. The state of Pernambuco is located in theBrazilian northeast region.

2. Capoeirista is the person who practices"capoeira", which is also considered akind of exercise practiced as a way ofself-defense like judo or karate.

3. School of Frevo is the name of theparticular group formed by people whotake part in the carnival party.

4. Mestre Nasicimento is the leader of thefrevo dance and he lives in Recife, thecapital state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Thefrevo dance step created by him receivedthe name "Frevo step of the MestreNascimento. "

5. A small, one legged pipe-smoking negrowho sets snares for travelers.

6. EduKinesthetics = Movement = Frevodance.

References

1. Dennison, Paul E and Gail E., BrainGym, published by Edu- Kinesthetics,Inc., 1986, Glendale, California.

2. Marino De Carvalho, Prof. Jorge,Frevotherapy, I Congresso Nacional deBioenergia, Dec 16, 1987, Brasilia-DF-Brazil.

3. Rydl, Do-Ri, Edu-Kinesthetics in AllWalks of Life, Collected Articlestranslated by Brigitte Eberle, 1989.

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