VIDA SÓ VALE SE FOR POR PRAZER - GRES Beija-Flor de Nilópolis

offering modern ballroom dancing to the tunes of Orquestra
Tabajara on Domingueira Voadora (“Flying Sundays”).
Augusto Ivan, an architect and urban expert, worked on the
Cultural Corridor project – created in 1984 by then mayor Marcello
Alencar – and on the reurbanization of the area around the
Lapa Arches. According to Augusto, who has been sub-mayor
for downtown and municipal secretary of urbanism, “the merchants
on Lavradio Street have been doing important work to
revitalize the area and its economy. Without them none of this
would have been possible. The recuperation of Lavradio Street
is an example for the entire country and even abroad.”
Another struggle in favor of preserving Rio’s heritage, one that
resulted in the creation of a venue for important cultural manifestations,
was experienced by Progresso Foundry, a maker of
stoves and safes, located alongside Circo Voador. The foundry
was deactivated in 1987 and started to be demolished. The
members of Circo Voador, who had a sharp insight into the
importance of preserving and valuing Carioca art and culture,
refused to stand for this. They joined with performers and
personalities and formed a cordon between the old building
and the bulldozers and wrecking balls, preventing its demolition
while their lawyers sought a court order to halt it.
The effort was not in vain.
After this effort, Circo Voador, with the help of civil society
organizations, obtained permission from the city and state
governments to use the Progresso Foundry building as a
space to hold cultural events.
The building has now been remade into a venue that can
hold nearly 7,000 people, with four theaters, three stages for
shows, an arena (the ground-floor Palco São Sebastião) and
the Parada da Lapa beer hall.
Important artistic groups find a place to develop their projects,
among them Intrépida Trupe, Centro Interativo de Circo,
Armazém Cia. de Teatro and Teatro de Anônimo.
Today Progresso Foundry remains a space for democratic
access to Brazilian art and culture in the heart of Lapa.
A DISTRICT WITH MUCH TO OFFER
According to the Associação Pólo Novo Rio Antigo, there
are around 400 bars, restaurants, used bookstores, antique
shops and show venues in Lapa.
Plínio Fróes, the association’s director, led the revitalization
effort and moved from Copacabana to an apartment
on Lavradio Street. He’s a partner in three establishments:
Rio Scenarium nightclub, Mangue Seco bar (specialized in
cachaça, Brazil’s homegrown cane liquor) and Santo Scenarium
restaurant. The swinging Rio Scenarium, which can
hold two thousand people, even has a new space for lyrical
and chamber music concerts.
Fevereiro 2010