Learning & Tech❯Talks & Lectures❯History Talks

Doors at 6:30pm | All Ages | Bar w/ ID | Tickets GA $95 / VIP $125 (Includes all fees) For one night only, Rey Valera will perform at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon, singing all of his hits throughout the years.

In the interwar period (1919-1939), French colonial officials heavily relied upon an “Arab-Berber” racial model in their North African colonies, using it to shape policy and strategy and subdue “unruly” populations. Around this time, an increasing number of French musicologists, borrowing the language of physical anthropology, began arguing for their field’s utility as a “race science” that could be deployed to decisively address the colonial “Berber question.” In this talk, I argue that, in surprising ways, music – often understood as an apolitical aesthetic form – was rather intensely political; and that interwar French musicologists intentionally made a case for musicology as a race science with colonial North Africa as their laboratory.

This will be a special night for all dance lovers!

Come at 8PM and get a Forró Dance class!

Josephina Del Norte: The Argentinian DJ, singer and multi-instrumentalist Josefina Del Norte will start the night playing a mix of Latin American Cumbia and Forró music from Brazil.

Forró Beleza: Led by Pyata Penedo, a Brazilian lead singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and owner of Figure 8 Sound Recording Studio, the band performs a variety of music from Northeastern Brazil known as forró.

Forró is a lively Brazilian music and partner-dance tradition rooted in Northeastern Brazil, where it developed through community gatherings centered around music, dancing, and social connection. Popularized nationally by legendary artists such as Luiz Gonzaga, its distinctive sound is traditionally created by the accordion, zabumba drum, and triangle, producing rhythms that feel both grounded and flowing.

The dance brings people together through a warm embrace, shared movement, playful turns, and a close connection to the music. Although it may remind newcomers of the intimacy of tango, the energy of salsa, or the grounded feeling of blues, forró has a joyful and welcoming character entirely its own.

More than simply a style of music or dance, forró is a celebration of Brazilian culture and community—and the best way to understand it is to come experience it for yourself!