Cantadeiras de Redondo: singing in the feminine
Who said that cante alentejano is only for men? In Rua do Castelo, in Redondo, a group of women demonstrate that the pleasure of polyphonic singing is for everyone. The Cantadeiras de Redondo sing and enchant. Immediately after the dot has given the motto and the alto has underlined it, the group attacks in chorus the rest of the song. If they were men, the body of anyone listening to them would be invaded by an almost telluric sensation. But they are women who sing and the emotions provoked by the modelling of the voices and the harmonious ensemble bring a naughty tear to the corner of the eye.
At the Cantadeiras de Redondo headquarters, a group of a dozen or so women get together several times a week to rehearse. When they have performances, they show that cante can also be feminine.
Between the traditional cante and the “saias” – or were we not in Redondo – Cristina, Zeza, Olívia, Ana Carla and all the other 19 that make up the Cantadeiras de Redondo join their voices in a whole that is more joyful than that of the men.
“Men are more impressive at first impact and we are more discreet”. Ana Carla Carvalho explains in one sentence the great difference between male and female singing. This is why, no matter how strange female voices may sound, they get inside us right from the first chords. That’s also why they are always very well received. “People are used to those more loaded groups, but we are always in a good mood.
There aren’t many groups of women singing the traditional Alentejan polyphonic chant – but it wasn’t always like this.
Women have always sung
“Contrary to popular belief, women singing is a very old thing, from the time of the work in the fields, when there were cornfields. Women used to sing in the fields, but then it became a man’s thing because they took the singing to the taverns, and women would go home when they came home from work”. Then, women “stopped having the agricultural work and stayed at home, not having as much opportunity to continue”.
When Ana Bravo, microphone in hand and headphones in her ears, stresses that “women used to come home from work in the fields…”, a cheerful voice says: “they didn’t like it either, they never did”, and the small group that has gathered in the shadows in the street begins to laugh.
Laughing and socializing is an integral part of being from Redondo, “a people that lives life in celebration”, as Janita Salomé told us. The singer and composer would play a fundamental role in the creation of the Cantadeiras de Redondo.
The idea of creating a female group was already maturing. But everything came to a head when Janita Salomé invited the group of women to sing at the kings. The “Cantadeiras” were formed, rehearsals began and later the association, which also organises singing meetings, was born.
The rehearsals of the Cantadeiras de Redondo are, in themselves, a party. On Tuesday and Friday afternoons, the emblematic Rua do Castelo is filled with fashions and skirts, but also with lively conversation and laughter. Because there is rarely a lack of snacks on the table. And that’s why the framing chosen by Miguel Montez for the video we publish has the table in the foreground. The food and drinks are fundamental for the voice to be heard. After all, it’s not by chance that the Alentejans have the saying “with water nobody sings!
Between the sausages and cheeses, the salads and a glass of wine from the Gaveto and Redondo wineries, the conversation is easy and jokes follow until, still at the table, Miss Florentina comes out of the beautiful voices and the guests become the Cantadeiras de Redondo.
Founded in 2014, the women’s singing group has taken their voices and the culture and tradition of Redondo to the 4 quarters of the country and has already won an honourable mention with “Adeus Convento da Serra”, an original fad that talks about the Convent of São Paulo and the Serra d’Ossa, at the Ponto&Alto festival in São Miguel de Machede, Évora.