Quem foi que disse                                                     Who is it that said
Que janeiro não saía                                                  That January never comes
Boi Janeiro está na rua                                             The January Bull is in the street
Com prazer e alegria                                                 With joy and happiness
Lá vem o sol                                                                  Here comes the sun
Lá vem a lua,                                                                Here comes the moon
Lá vem meu Boi Janeiro                                            Here comes my January Bull
Passeando pela rua                                                     Parading down the street

The music starts and the kids put on their sandals and barely have time to tell their mothers where they’re going. They don’t want to miss the chance to tease the Boi, or bull, that parades through the cobblestone streets of the town of Itaobim, in the lower Jequitinhonha Valley. The Boi comes without mercy, chases after you, scares you, is huge, shakes its entire body. He won’t actually catch you, but he sure scares you. And who doesn’t want to come out to the streets year after year to live through the fear, the courage, and victory of provoking the Boi?

Every year it’s the same thing, and so the kids grow while the Boi carries on in the same old ways. Ah, how nice it is to grow up with games that never change, they may tweak something here and there, but in essence they remain the same, perpetuating traditions. These traditions are an incredible opportunity for children to experience the stages of growth and find news ways of being in the world.

Most times a small child will watch the Boi pass by from the window, maybe the following year they will manage to stand on the sidewalk, even if hiding behind a tree. Another year and maybe, tagging along with a braver friend, they will run out to the streets after the Boi. And finally… the year will come when they enjoy the thrill of bravely provoking the Boi, running away from it, and teasing the smaller ones who only watch from the windows.

Pisa na linha                                                                Step on the line
Levanta o boi                                                               Raise the bull
Levanta meu boi do chão                                         Raise my bull off the ground
Boi, boi                                                                         Bull, bull
Boi de sinhá                                                                 The missus’ bull
Levanta janeiro                                                          Brings January
Para nós vadiar                                                         So we can play

For those who think the month of January is not a Boi month, they’re wrong, in the town of Itaobim, the land of mangoes, the Boi de Janeiro, or January Bull, is going strong.

Dona Efigênia came to love the Boi when she was a child, “I liked this game when I was small, and I said to myself that I would have a boi just like that when I grew up,” she admitted to us, sitting under a seriguela tree in her backyard. During her childhood it was Maria Trovão who led the crowd and called the songs for the group to sing with the Boi. After Maria Trovão moved closer to the heavens, the streets of Itaobim went for several years without a Boi.

Fulfilling her wish, Efigênia revived the Boi de Janeiro, which now counts with the help a group of 70 people, from ages 3 to 80.

Two banners with illustrations of the Boi and the Nega (characters that make up the game) are carried in front by two young girls, 12 and 14. The Nega and the Boi follow after them, bringing joy to the kids in the streets, and right behind them is the group singing the songs:

Cê tá doida nega                                                            You’re crazy, woman
Cê tá doida nega                                                            You’re crazy, woman
Ôh o remelexo dessa nega                                           Oh, look how this woman moves
Cê tá doida nega                                                            You’re crazy woman
Eu sou de longe                                                              I’m from far away
Queremos ir                                                                    We want to leave
O Santo ajuda                                                                The Saint helps us
Para nós seguir                                                              So we can go
Lá em casa tenho uma nega                                       Back home I have a woman
Na catinga tenho um boi                                             In the desert I have a bull
Solta a nega e amarra o boi                                        Let the woman loose and tie up the bull

Until next year, Boi de Janeiro, when these kids will be back on the streets.

Text: Renata Meirelles

Photos: David Reeks