On Saturday, September 2nd, starting at 11 AM, Little Brazil (between 5th and 6th Avenues) will be closed for the “Brazilian Day Warm-Up”. The event aims to showcase a bit more of Brazilian culture, beyond music, which is the highlight of the big festival on Sunday.
In this first year, the highlights are capoeira and maculelê, arts common to the state of Bahia, although well-known throughout the country, and samba, which originated in the state of Rio de Janeiro but is a symbol of Brazilian culture worldwide.
Jelon Vieira and Carlos Oliveira, the event organizers alongside the founder of BR Day in New York, João de Matos, are planning a party that will please not only Brazilians nostalgic for home but also foreigners who love Brazil and enjoy learning about our traditions.
Jelon Vieira, a capoeira master and choreographer, is planning interactive capoeira and maculelê performances. That is, the master is inviting the audience to participate and learn practically about these two manifestations that represent Brazil so well.
“The community is invited to participate in the classes. For Maculelê, anyone who wants can bring the grima,” Vieira invites, referring to the two sticks used in the manifestation, with which participants strike blows to the rhythm of the music.
Vieira, a Bahian who has been living in the United States for 42 years, is one of the most recognized capoeira masters today. He was the one who brought the art of teaching capoeira to the United States 30 years ago. He is the founder of Capoeira Luanda, a group that not only performs in various countries but also teaches capoeira and other elements of Brazilian culture in public schools in New York.
The master is also the founder and choreographer of DanceBrazil, a contemporary dance company that performs and conducts workshops worldwide.
Vieira’s talent and experience have earned him several honors. He received the “National Treasure” award from the White House, is listed in the Smithsonian group as one of the prominent artists of folk art, and is also recognized as one of the 100 most influential Brazilians in the United States by Forbes magazine.
With all this ‘background’, there is no doubt that Vieira has an exciting program planned for Saturday.
“The Brazilian Day Warm-Up is something new; and because it is something new, my expectation is that not only Brazilians come to enjoy it, but also other people come to support and participate,” 
he says. “And I hope this is just the first of many other ‘Warm-Ups’ that will showcase other elements of our culture,” he adds.
But the attractions don’t stop there. Samba will transform the morning of those passing through Times Square on Saturday. A parade of a samba school’s bateria will gather at the location at 11 AM and head towards 46th Street, bringing along anyone who wants to join. Dancers and a couple of mestre-sala and porta-bandeira intend to turn the streets of New York into a true sambódromo.
Behind this off-season carnival is Carlos Oliveira, a musician and percussionist who founded the Brazilian Council on Samba, an organization whose mission is to support artists and organizations to represent and promote the history and culture of samba.
Oliveira is a carioca with a musical background in afro blocks and samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. Currently living in New York, he leads a group of female percussionists, whom 
he teaches for free every Sunday in a studio in Manhattan.
Those interested in participating can email info@braziliancouncilonsamba.org.
Working together with the New York Samba School and other professionals in the field, Oliveira hopes to showcase the typical elements of traditional samba from Rio de Janeiro at the “Warm-Up”. For him, the idea of having a party like this on the eve of BR Day was yet another great initiative from the event’s founder:
“I hope it grows and that we can show other facets of samba, broadening the view of what samba is,” he hopes.
The Brazilian Day Warm-Up is a free event. For more information, visit the website: www.brazilianday.com