Dona Onete: 'I had to withdraw due to medical requests, but I'm winning. I'm still standing

Dona Onete celebrates 10 years of "Banzeiro", an album that spread the sounds and enchantments of the Amazon around the world
Lais Teixeira
Queen of Carimbó chamegado, Dona Onete celebrates two great achievements this month of June: the arrival of her 87th birthday (completed on the 18th), and the 10th anniversary of her most successful album, "Banzeiro".
In an interview with g1, the singer, songwriter, researcher and teacher Marajoara revisits her own career in music - started late, at the age of 72 -, but not only that.
He also talks about the artists he has been listening to recently, his current health status and new projects. Check it out below.
10 years of 'Banzeiro'
From the living room of her house, in Belém, Dona Onete is happy.
It celebrates a decade of "Banzeiro", an album that took Carimbó beyond the Amazon and consolidated it on the national scene.
Released on June 23, 2016, the album reached first place on the "World Music Charts Europe", promoting a series of presentations in the United States, Mexico, several countries in Europe and Southeast Asia.
The 12-track work - whose title refers to the agitation of the waters of Amazonian rivers and lakes - became one of the main records of contemporary music from Pará, by uniting, in the same work, traditional rhythms such as banguê and bolero.
"I was a folklorist, I participated in dance groups, but I wanted to 'mess around' more with Carimbó. Just seeing our beloved rhythm in places like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which are showcases, is already a feeling of accomplishment", says Dona Onete.
In songs like "Tipiti" and "Banzeiro", elements of daily Amazonian life also gain a poetic dimension, almost like a kind of sung chronicle.
In tracks such as "Proposta Indecente" and "No Sabor do Beijo", the former teacher explores the good-natured sensuality that became one of her hallmarks as a singer:
"The carimbó is as if it were a dance between a hummingbird and a rose. Several hummingbirds come wanting to take the nectar from her, but she doesn't let her. She pretends to be philandering", she analyzes in a tone of joke.
Dona Onete Banzeiro
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Chat with Dona Onete
In a chat with g1, Dona Onete answered questions about smells, flavors, music and memories that help define the Amazon and her own artistic trajectory. See below:
What smell best represents the Amazon?
"Our tucupi. It's a very caboclo perfume."
What does the Amazon taste like?
"With flour or without flour. With sugar or without sugar: our açaí"
Which song is the pure definition of the Amazon?
"In addition to the anthem of Pará, "Este Rio É Minha Rua", by Fafá de Belém and "Sabor Açaí", by Nilson Chaves. That's because I don't want to talk about myself..."
Which artists have you been listening to recently?
'"Gaby Amarantos with 'Rock Doido', Keila, the Nelsinho Rodrigues, Joelma... I will always value those from here."
What advice would Dona Onete '87 give to that teacher who kept her compositions in a notebook there in Cachoeira do Arari?
"Never let anyone hold you back, make you feel enslaved, or stop you from showing what you have. Wait, it will work out. Now, if you wait too long and don't show yourself a little, no one will find you. Showing me a little bit and look what happened..."
Dona Onete features in two singles released almost simultaneously this February, 'Jambu no cuxá' and 'Quatro contas'
Tereza Maciel / Disclosure
Current health status
From the beginning of her career in music, to now, Dona Onete has done a lot of walking.
She began a marathon of presentations promoting her musical works, traveling to several countries, on the stages of major festivals and also in solo performances.
In February of this year, however, she was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection. As a result, Dona Onete completely reduced her work pace and stopped her show schedule.
The singer's last performance, already using a wheelchair, was at the Carimbó Festival, in Irituia, Pará, on January 18th. Since then, the agenda has been suspended.
"I'm living a very beautiful period, despite my health problems. But I'm winning. I'm still standing", he says.
Dona Onete professes faith in spiritual entities in the single 'Quatro contas'
Tereza Maciel / Disclosure
New projects
Even with the reduction in pace due to medical recommendations, Dona Onete says she hasn't stopped creating and is already starting to plan new projects.
"My musicians will come back rehearsing. I'm quiet in my corner, but my head is still buzzing, making music."
In addition to her musical career, the artist is also planning new works related to children's literature, an area she has always maintained a connection with throughout her life as a teacher.
"I don't want to stop writing stories. Amarantos, Zaynara and Dona Onete
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Source: G1