Forró Foundations was started in 2016 by Chinedu Okoye. Here's his story:

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Chinedu began dancing forró in 2013 when his capoeira instructor first took him to a Brazilian party. He was shy and afraid to ask anyone to dance as he knew he had no idea what he was doing! While having previously practiced hip hop dance when he was younger, forró was completely new to him. Fortunately, the community welcomed him with open arms and after speaking to a few people, he was encouraged to take classes with London’s teachers.

 

Fast forward 2 years and what started as a fun night out turned into a lifestyle. He discovered that there was forró all over Europe and began to travel to festivals, parties and workshops in different cities, meeting new people and going to places that he would otherwise not have been to.

 

In July 2015, he made a trip to Brazil to attend the largest forró festival in the world, Fenfit, a national music competition and dance meet where thousands of forrózeiros come together in the sun kissed fishing village of Itaunas to enjoy forró. After this experience, his love for forró grew to the point that he felt he had to take what he had experienced and bring it back to London for others, and so Chinedu created Forró Foundations in 2016!

 

Since then, Chinedu has organised Outdoor Events, National and International Dance Classes, Guest Teacher Workshops, Charity Forró Fundraisers, DJ’d at some of Europe’s most well-known Forró Festivals, and produced concerts for musicians such as Trio Dona Zefa, Zeu Azevedo, Forróbamba, Fabio Carnerinho to name but a few.

 

Together with the Forró Foundations team, he now runs regular classes every Tuesday which focus on Roots Style Forró, as well as monthly live music events to share his experience with as many people as possible, hoping that the forró journey will bring them as much joy as it has for him.

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