Brazilian folk dance and folk drama are rick forms of popular artistic expression. Subject, rhythm, costume, and choreography reveal the three principal components of the nation's culture in a complex interaction.
There are dozens of Brazilian folk dances - everything from dramatizations of the early wars between the Portuguese and the Indians (Caboclinhos and Caiapós performed in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas), to the Cavalhada of Pirenópolis in the state of Goiás, a theatrical pageant, lasting three days, which depicts the fight between the Christians and the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula. The Cavalhada survives from the tradition of medieval tournaments.
