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Forró is a kind of popular Northeastern Brazilian dance, as well as a type of music which accompanies the dance. Both are much in evidence during the annual Festa Junina (June Festival).
One theory popularly held in the region is that the word forró is a derivative of the English expression "for all" and that it originated in the early 1900s. English engineers on the Great Western Railroad would throw balls on weekends and classify them as either only for railroad personnel or for the general populace ("for all"). This belief was somewhat reinforced by a similar practice by USAF personnel stationed at the Natal Air Force Base during World War II. Most Brazilians, when interviewed, state that they view this theory as the truth.
The second theory puts forró as a derivative of forrobodó, meaning "great party" or "commotion". This is the view held by Brazilian folklorist Câmara Cascudo, who studied the Brazilian Northeast through most of his life. Forrobodó is believed to come from the word forbodó (itself a corruption of fauxbourdon), which was used in the Portuguese court to define a dull party.
There is a third theory that it also comes from the number of the engine that the English engineers used as they roamed the tracks of the railroad supervising the construction, "40" or " Four-oh" that was corrupted by the Brazilians into "Forró".
Forró is the most popular genre in Brazil's Northeast. It has evolved into a number of subgenres. Traditional forró, played with only three instruments (accordion, zabumba and a metal triangle), is now known as forró pé-de-serra. This traditional forró was created by Luiz Gonzaga, who transformed the baião (a word originated from baiano and assigned a warm-up for artists to search for inspiration before playing) into a more sophisticated rhythm. In later years, forró achieved popularity throughout Brazil, in the form of a slower genre known as xote.
Forró lyrics are usually about love and romance, passion, jealousy, or reminiscing about an ex-lover. They often are about Northeastern themes and the longing or homesickness (saudades) that was often experienced during migrations in search of work. An example of this are the lyrics to perhaps the most beloved song by Luiz Gonzaga "Asa branca" (White Wing) in which the singer says he will return home when the rains fall again on the dry, barren land. They will know he is coming when they see the certain white winged bird of the savanna (sertão) that only arrives when it rains.
Geraldo Azevedo and Luiz Gonzaga are two of the most traditional forró composers. Major forro musicians include Geraldo Azevedo, Accioly Neto, Banda De Pau E Corda, Banda Magnificos, Calcinha Preta, Dominguinhos, Fala Mansa, Forró do Simão, Jacinto Silva, Jackson do Pandeiro, Limão Com Mel, Marinês, Negrão dos Oito Baixos, Trio Nordestino, Pertúcio Amorim, Quenga de Coco, Santanna, Sebastião do Rojão, and Trio Juazeiro. And new bands as Silvério Pessoa, Aviões do Forró, Bonde do Forró, Estakazero, Banda Calypso that sing a kind of modern forró. The "Forró Pé de Serrá" musicians include Arlindo dos Oito Baixos, Forró na Contra-Mão, Bicho de Pé, O Bando de Maria, Triangulo Caraíva, Forró Raiz, Arleno Farias, Trio Jerimum, Alcalyno, Buchicho, and others.
There are three rhythms of forró, xote (a slower-paced rhythm), baião (the original forró) and arrasta-pé (the fastest of the three), and amongst these, many styles of dancing, which varies from region to region, and may be known by different names according to the location. Forró is danced in pairs, usually very close together, with the man's left hand holding the woman's right hand as in the Waltz, his right arm around her back and her left arm around his neck; in this style, the man's right leg stays in between the woman's legs, following the African tradition of a close pelvis. Other styles may require to stay partially away, or in a considerable distance, only holding their hands up the shoulders. Influences from salsa and other Caribbean dances has given mobility to forró, with the woman - and occasionally the man - being spun in various ways, although it's not mandatory to spin at all, and more complex movements may prove impossible to be executed in the usually crowded dancing area of forrós. Follows below a list of the most popular styles of forró in Brazil:
Xote
Arrasta-pé
Miudinho and puladinho can also be danced to baião music and even to arrasta-pé, but in the latter the leg work is so intense that it's impracticable. Some people also like to include brega/calypso in the forró category, because this dance has suffered much influence of forró throughout the decades, but it's danced to its own rhythm (not to be mistaken with Calypso music).