Dancebook Brasil

For over a century, dances around the world have been recorded in notation, much like music. However, Brazilian dances have never had such formal records. Reinforcing its commitment to valuing national culture, Bradesco, one of Brazil’s largest financial institutions, now announces the launch of “Dancebook Brasil,” an unprecedented project developed in partnership with choreographer Carlinhos de Jesus.

The initiative marks a historic moment by documenting, for the first time, traditional Brazilian dance rhythms through choreographic scores using the Benesh Movement Notation, an international system widely used in European ballet.

Created by Lovely, a creativity-first agency within Grupo Dreamers, Dancebook Brasil comes to life both as a physical book and across digital platforms. A team of choreographers, dancers, and specialists - under the curation and supervision of Carlinhos de Jesus, renowned Brazilian dancer and choreographer, widely recognized for his influence on samba and ballroom dance - translates movements from dances such as samba, frevo, toada, and chula into written notation.

Present across different regions of the country, these rhythms are also deeply connected to cultural territories supported by Bradesco, including Carnival (Brazil’s most iconic cultural celebration, known for its vibrant parades, samba, and street festivities), the Parintins Festival (one of Brazil’s largest folkloric festivals, held in Amazonas, famous for the vibrant rivalry between Boi Garantido and Boi Caprichoso), and the Acampamento Farroupilha (one of the largest celebrations of gaúcho culture in Brazil, held in Rio Grande do Sul to honor regional traditions, history, and the Farroupilha Revolution), reinforcing the project’s link to Brazil’s living cultural expressions. Videos detailing the entire process of translating movements into Benesh notation will be available on the bank’s social media channels.

The translation process also relies on the technical and curatorial work of a French choreologist specializing in Benesh notation, responsible for marking movements, systematizing sequences, and producing each choreographic score. This is a rare and highly specialized practice: there are only a few choreologists worldwide capable of writing this type of notation, further highlighting Dancebook Brasil’s uniqueness and relevance from artistic, academic, and historical perspectives.

Beyond the scores, the more than 150 pages of Dancebook Brasil feature photography by Maurício Nahas, Brazilian photographer known for capturing cultural expressions and visual narratives across art, fashion, and documentary contexts, and in-depth texts about each dance, its cultural context, and choreographic characteristics, preserving artistic expressions from different regions of Brazil. The publication is a luxury edition filled with special pages, with even its layout designed to make the text “dance” throughout the book.

Carlinhos de Jesus highlights the initiative’s historical significance in transforming dance, traditionally passed down through oral and physical expression, into a formal and universal record: "Dance takes center stage with this initiative by Bradesco, which brings us, through this book, the long-awaited recognition and visibility. What once lived only in the body now exists on paper. May many more books and projects like this come!"

With a special print run, the book was created to be part of the collections of major dance institutions around the world, including the Royal Academy of Dance in London, placed alongside classical ballet scores. The project positions Brazilian dance within formal systems of documentation and preservation while helping to elevate national culture and expand its recognition on a global scale.