People like Beth Carvalho e Topper lends his face to decorate the walls of the Annex Godê, a new bar in Campos Elíseos, in the center of Sao Paulo🇧🇷 And it is in this scenario marked by big names in the samba that the house receives, every Saturday, the wheel of Aguidá.
The event starts shyly, around 5 pm, but it’s already boiling around 7 pm. At this moment, the house is so full that it is difficult to get another cold beer. At the end of the second interval, the public already exceeds the venue’s capacity and completely occupies the sidewalk, in addition to part of the street.
Formed by a group of friends in 2019, the samba do Aguidá was named after a clay object of African origin similar to a vessel used to deliver offerings to orixás🇧🇷 During performances, the artifact is used to receive money deposited by the audience.
“We wanted to do a different samba circle, hence the name. We accumulate what we receive and, at the end of the year, we choose an institution that will receive the amount. People put the money inside the aguidá, as if it were an offering, and we donate” , says Tiago Campos, 40, one of the founders of the group.
Eight wheelchair have been bought by the group for children’s institutions so far and, in the last year, the amount collected with the samba was used by a colleague of the members to rebuild the house. “Aguidá had some money and we donated it to a friend who had his house burned down”, says Campos.
In addition to the aguidá, the table used to support the instruments also receives items such as a George’s sword and a small sculpture of the saint with the same name as the plant. “They are our protection elements”, declares Campos.
Despite the elements that refer to religions of African origin, such as Umbanda and Candomblé, the people in the group say they have no specific religion and that they welcome all creeds. “Aguidá is not part of any religion, we sing to bring energy to people”, says Parrera de Jesus, 35, also in the group.
“I myself take the little papers deposited in the aguidá, I take them to some churches afterwards and I ask for prayer”, he says.
As well as classics such as “Trem das Onze”, by Adoniran Barbosa and “Ogun”, from Zeca Pagodinhoauthorial songs are also part of the repertoire and help to lull the public until the end of the circle.
“We separate the songs, but this changes depending on the audience. We feel the night and change the style of samba, always mixing it up. But we’ve always played samba because that’s what our heritage is about,” says Jesus.
The third member of Aguidá, Wagner Justino, 41, reinforces the idea of keeping the genre as the group’s main focus. “We have nothing against pagode, but it’s not what we know how to play. So we only play samba and we always look for someone to play it”, he says. The group has three permanent members and three rotating members.
The group only makes an exception for the pagoda if a guest sets the pace. “It could be that some participant arrives and sings, then we’ll play normally”, says Campos. Artists such as Tereza Gama, from Clube do Balanço, and Raquel Tobias, are some of those who have already performed in the roda.
Sponsored by duet Prettos, by the Quinteto Preto em Branco, the samba by Aguidá began to be performed at Godê, the bar adjacent to the Annex, at the beginning of the year. “We made a samba here and they didn’t let us go out anymore”, says Justino. The Annex, in turn, opened its doors in September —with the samba circle already on the agenda.
The musicians estimate that around 900 people pass through the place every Saturday. And, as a rule, Aguidá performs at the Godê Annex on the 17th. Admission is free and the tip is to arrive early to enjoy the feijoada at neighboring Godê.
