Carmen Miranda Research Paper

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Pages: 2

During the fourth week, we looked into the Brazilian music and the famous artists. “Brazil is actually spelled and pronounced “Brasil” in Portuguese”, said by Bobby in Swing University. Brazilian music is like a melting pot with different backgrounds of music and history. Music is a part of Brazilian culture. African slaves have influence in the music of Brazil. Brazilian musical instruments include berimbau, atabaque, cavaquinho, pandeiro, alfaia, tamborim and ganza. Taking a glimpse of Brazilian music, we studied about a prominent personality, Carmen Miranda. She was a singer, dancer-actress, and a film star. Carmen Miranda was born in a village in the northern Portugal on February 9th, 1909. She introduced samba dance to the world. Carmen …show more content…
“Channelling these influence, Miranda one day decided to don a headdress in the form of a fruit-filled turban.”
She designed her first fruit turban while she was working in a boutique.
"It was through her music and her person that Americans discovered what Rio de Janeiro was, what Brazil was, how Brazilians behaved," says César Balbi, the director of the now-closed Carmen Miranda Museum in Rio.
Additionally, Miranda was considered to be a goodwill ambassador of intercontinental culture.
She died on 1955 and was the first South American honored by the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On the other hand, we studied about other artists of that time like Astrud Gilberto, who was a Brazilian singer. Astrud was known for her performance in the song “The Girl from Ipanema”.
In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt began the “Good Neighbor Policy” which basically pledged that the United States would keep good relations with Latin American countries. The policy also stood for the principle that Americans won’t interfere and mind their own business. Franklin expected that it would also promote trade but the policy did not convince Latin