Description

The word forro is used to describe a number of musical genres and dances from Brazil's Northeast region. Key elements of forró music include the accordion, triangle, and zabumba drum, although modern forró music can incorporate many other instruments. Forró has three different rythms; xote (slow), baião (medium), and arrasta pé (fast).

Traditional forrólvrics were influenced by aspects of life in the Northeast such as migration and nostalgia, although today they are equally influenced by love, jealousy, and urban themes. The dances encompassed by forró take inspiration from salsa and other Caribbean dances. Forró is usually danced by couples who stand close to one another.

A popular theory about the origins of 'forro' is that the name itself derives from the English phrase 'for all' as English engineers working on Brazil's Great Western Railway in the early 1900s would have organized balls 'for all'.