Lia de Itamaracá, was born and has always lived on the Island of Itamaracá. The singer, songwriter and dancer is an icon of Northeastern culture, a key figure of the ciranda (typical dance of Brazil) in Brazil and a living heritage of the State of Pernambuco.
Six decades later, Lia accumulated other titles: "Rainha da Ciranda", "Queen of ciranda singer and dancer in Brazil", "diva of black music" and, since 2005, "Living Cultural Heritage" of the State of Pernambuco. In addition to her performance as a singer and songwriter, Lia is also an actress. Her recent work in cinema was with the award winning film “Bacurauâ€. In 2019, the partnership between Lia and the music producer Dj Dolores yields her new album that reveals that outside the ciranda, Lia is even sweeter and more powerful, a necessary experience for a singer and songwriter who shows her other facets and dares at the height of her career as a singer and actress.
She recorded her first album, Rainha da Ciranda, in 1977. The work introduced the artist into the history of Brazilian popular culture with verses like “This ciranda, Lia gave me, who lives on the island of Itamaracáâ€. Inseparable words from the singer-songwriter and the ciranda. For
five decades, the artist took her art with perseverance and resistance beyond the folk, regional or popular culture circuits.
In 2000, his album Eu Sou Lia was released by Ciranda Records and reissued by Rob Digital, whose repertoire included “coco de raÃz†and “loas de maracatuâ€, in addition to cirandas (traditional dance) accompanied by percussion and saxophone.
The album has been distributed in France by a world music label and Lia's raspy voice caught the attention of the international press, which began to classify her songs as “trance musicâ€, in an attempt to explain the “trance†that the sound caused in the public.
Even though he was a late success, she toured internationally and received a lot of praise. The New York Times called her the “black music divaâ€.
Being a reference for the new generation, she participated in the award-winning album Galanga Livre (2017), by Rincon Sapiência. And in 2019 Lia was the great honoree of the biggest Carnival Blocks in Brazil, “Galo da Madrugada and Homem da Meia Noite†(morning rooster and the midnight man).
At the age of 75, she released a new album, “Ciranda Sem Fimâ€, November 2019, bets on a varied repertoire and contemporary outfits. The production is by DJ Dolores, an important figure in the manguebeat movement, and responsible for the soundtracks of important films of Brazilian cinema. In addition to the ciranda, the album dives into a universe of Lia's never accessed “classic boleros†style that she had not yet recorded.
About Ciranda:
Ciranda is a traditional rhythm and dance of the island of Itamaracá. The municipality is part of the metropolitan region of Recife, located at about 50 kilometers from the capital. In several interviews, Lia told how her beat simulates the coming and going of the waves of the sea. According to popular wisdom, the ciranda was sung and danced by the fishermen's wives while they waited for their husbands to return from the ocean. The ciranda dance, hand in hand, has versions all over Brazil and is part of the traditional repertoire of children's dances. According to the “Dictionary of Brazilian Folkloreâ€, by LuÃs da Câmara Cascudo, the ciranda arrived in Brazil through the Portuguese and Spanish, in the 19th century.
Pernambuco musicians such as Chico Science and Lenine incorporated the ciranda in their works. In 2009, the dance was declared an intangible heritage of Pernambuco.
Lia de Itamaracá
