I'm from Santa Catarina, Brazil, and moved recently to Virginia, US with Ludi (my wife) for our best adventure yet (life). It's been a long journey and a blessing to be able to experience everything again although in a slightly different way. -- I apologize for my broken English btw, I'm still learning.
My story with Burning Man is of profound respect for the culture that was built here. It's amazing how you all made this level of freedom possible and I can't wait to experience it with my own eyes.
In Brazil, I could say we "burned" but in a different way. We grew up in the south building the "rave" scene which is very different there from the commercial "festival" scene here. The ravers pledged PLUR principles: peace, love, union, and respect. And even tho' we didn't have the financial condition and the machinery that the first world have, the raver community always found ways to get together by whatever means: collective crowdfunding, building your own sound system, finding land where the police wouldn't find us, stealing power from main electric lines, and, after all, gathering rebel artists from all around the place to party as freemen in a parallel time and space.
Our rave scene was similar to other third-world countries like Goa/India, South Africa, Eastern Europe, and Mexico. Everything flows as nature, following the sun moving from day to night and the moon bringing it back. The music is the center of it all and the sound stimulates trance with a tribal vibe, all synchronized to the rhythm of the day itself as the rave starts with downtempo and progressively speeds up for days, nights, and more days.
After two years isolated in the pandemic, we were lucky enough to find the Tidewater Burners, a local group of a=-meh-zing artists and people, that welcomed us to the Love Burn, regional Florida burner event. It was such a surprise to see the scale of what you all created here, and which such good principles and people involved. It reminded us that we're all the same, after all.
By the way, my job is with production for films, experiential installations, art, systems by both planning, concepting, managing logistics, building or setting up things and my art is sound as a DJ/musician for over 15 years by playing fonk things from tribal, bass, glitch hop, funk, breaks to more psychedelic uptempo goa trance and house/techno. Ludi works with beauty, her job is makeup artist to films, campaigns; and her art comes through as a visual artist working with paintings, sculptures, fine arts, and interactive installations.
We're virgins and 2022 will be our first Burning Man experience.
We don't have a ticket, a camp, a purpose, nor a plan. But we will be there.
If you felt a connection, please get in touch. We can't wait to meet you all.
