Buenos Aires Times

It’s a stunning day on the seaside in Brazil: the intense blue ocean sparkles within the solar, the palm bushes sway within the breeze and the peaceable sound of… er, bagpipes?

Thousands of kilometres from the United Kingdom, the kilts are out on a Rio de Janeiro seaside that immediately seems like one thing out of the Scottish Highlands.

Eleven-year-old Davi Portugal is taking part in a set of bagpipes practically as massive as he’s, inflating his cheeks to tennis-ball-size with each breath.

“I love the sound. It’s beautiful and different,” says the younger Brazilian, whose dream is to hitch the navy.

He and his older brother Caio, 14, are each members of their college band in São Gonçalo, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rio, the place taking part in the bagpipes is a surefire technique to flip folks’s heads.

“The first time I saw the bagpipes, I definitely did not want to play them, because I thought it was weird to wear a kilt. It looks like a skirt, which is kind of taboo in Brazil,” says Jhonny Mesquita, 32, the director of the college band.

“But later, I fell in love with the sound. When I started learning about the history of the instrument and what it represents to the Scottish people, it turned into a passion.”

‘The Pelé of bagpipes’

In 2017, Mesquita bought the possibility to pursue his ardour again at its supply when he travelled to Scotland for 2 weeks.

He shot to fame there due to a video of him juggling a soccer at a stadium in Aberdeen, all whereas taking part in “Asa Branca,” a Brazilian traditional, on the bagpipes.

“It was a huge success. The local newspapers called me the ‘Pelé of the bagpipes,’” he says, sporting a black, purple and white tartan kilt and leather-based pouch, known as a sporran, like the opposite members of the group.

Mesquita, a grade college music instructor, is known in São Gonçalo, too: he has performed the bagpipes on Brazilian TV and at Rio’s famed Municipal Theatre.

But he says his proudest moments are seeing younger folks from robust neighbourhoods fall in love with music through the bagpipes.

“The essence of the project is engaging young people and occupying their minds so they stay away from drugs and crime,” he says.

In addition to main the college band, he’s head of the Brazil-Scotland Association, a gaggle of 18 bagpipers who play in “places people don’t want to go,” akin to juvenile detention centres.

Next era of kilt-wearers

Mesquita himself realized the bagpipes at 15, due to a serviceman who performed in a navy band.

He says he determined to show youngsters the way to play the instrument on the college he attended — the identical one the place he’s now band director, coaching the subsequent era of kilt-wearing Brazilians.

Mesquita primarily depends on donations and ingenuity to maintain his affiliation occurring a shoestring finances.

“Most of our bagpipes were donated, mainly from overseas. The kilts are made by the mom of one of our members,” he says.

The group was invited to play a competition in Belgium in July, however didn’t have cash for aircraft tickets.

But the “Pelé of bagpipes” shouldn’t be letting that get his spirits down.

He sees the instrument opening new horizons for his college students on a regular basis, he says.

“It’s been a watershed for them. I’ve seen young people who didn’t seem to have a promising future win scholarships or join the navy and air force bands,” he says.

“It’s very moving to watch my son play,” says Alice Cortes da Silva, a former pupil at Mesquita’s college, as she watches her nine-year-old play tambourine within the group.

“His dream is to move from tambourine to bagpipes. He’s very dedicated. He’s even started doing better at school,” she says proudly.
 

by Louis Genot, AFP

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