Valsa brasileira

The valsa brasileira is Brazil's 19th-century salon waltz, a European ballroom dance reshaped by Brazilian saudade into an intimate vehicle for guitar and piano virtuosity. *Ernesto Nazareth* and *Chiquinha Gonzaga* gave it its classic voice around 1900 — singing, rubato melodies over gently rocking accompaniments — and chorão guitarists from *Dilermando Reis* to *Raphael Rabello* made it a proving ground for the violão brasileiro. Less a dance than a mood of elegant nostalgia, the valsa survives in concert recitals, choro circles and the repertories of players like *Yamandu Costa* and *Hamilton de Holanda*.