Bloomsbury Dona Ivone Lara's Sorriso Negro (33 1/3 Brazil)

More than simply a paragon of Brazilian samba, Dona (Lady) Ivone Laras 1981 Sorriso Negro (translated to Black Smile) is an album deeply embedded in the political and social tensions of its time. Released less than four years after the Brazilian military dictatorship approved the Lei de Abertura (the Opening that put Brazil on a path toward democratic governance), Sorriso Negro reflects the seminal shifts occurring within Brazilian society as former exiles introduced notions of civil rights and feminist thought to a nation under the iron hand of a military dictatorship that had been in place since 1964. By looking at one of the most important samba albums ever recorded (and one that also happened to be composed by a black woman), Mila Burns explores the pathbreaking career of Dona Ivone, tracing the ways in which she navigated the tense gender and race relations of the samba universe to ultimately conquer the masculine world of samba composers. 33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-basedbooks and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial volumes focusing on Japanese and Brazilian music, the series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more. About the Author Mila Burns is a Brazilian journalist, anthropologist, and historian. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the History Department at The Graduate Center / CUNY and teaches US and Latin American History at the City University of New York, USA. She is the author of Nasci para Sonhar e Cantar: Dona Ivone Lara, a Mulher no Samba, a book about the life and music of Dona Ivone Lara. Mila Burns is a reporter and anchor at TV Globo.