Paths taken by Environmental Education for cultural valorization: the Fandango of the South Coast of São Paulo and the North Coast of Paraná (Brazil)

Abstract

The present report refers to a narrative reminiscent of a historical event of cultural valorization of the Fandango of the South Coast of São Paulo and the North Coast of Paraná for the holding of the First Meeting of Fandango groups from Vale do Ribeira and the North coast of Paraná held in 2003 and its expression 14 years later. The process of cultural valorization of Fandango was based on the proposals for participatory educational-intervention-research (Viezzer & Ovalles, 1995) and with the objective of contributing to the valorization of caiçara culture. The place for this meeting was at the Ilha do Cardoso State Park. which is located on the south coast of the state of São Paulo, in Cananéia, 272 km from the state capital. It borders the State of Paraná and is located in the Vale do Ribeira region. The first meeting of Fandango Groups was held on February 22 and 23, 2003. In this intervention, cultural exchange between Fandango groups was stimulated, being the community of Itacuruçá (Ilha do Cardoso), the Fandango Group of Cananéia, Youth from Juréia and the Caiçaras do Paraná Folkloric Group (Ilha dos Valadares), seeking to enhance their habits, dances, local rhythms, difficulties and successes of each group and knowledge of biodiversity linked to Fandango culture. The organizing institutions for this event were Instituto Ecos da Mata (IEM), Ilha do Cardoso State Park (PEIC) and Support Center for Research on Human Populations and Brazilian Wetlands (NUPAUB). The sponsors were: Culture Fund and University Extension of the University of São Paulo, German Consulate, Ecos da Mata Institute (IEM), Ilha do Cardoso State Park (PEIC) and Guaragueçaba Fisheries Institute (IPG). The analysis 14 years later of this event of reflection and discussions with the fandangueiros themselves, was permeated by documentary analysis, participant observation and structured conversations with researchers and fandangueiros. It was possible to observe that Fandango still has difficulties with its expressiveness, mainly because it is the result of collective processes in the community such as the harvesting of agricultural crops, the siege harvesting among others and that for countless reasons that were not addressed in this work transformed the communities more individualized and compromising the execution of circles or Fandango balls. On the other hand, it was observed that Fandango is "alive", with several actions in this region studied as protagonists of this cultural maintenance, ranging from public policies to individual actions.