Ana Laíns is, in fact, at the origin of this idea, the Brazilian Fafá de Belém, another of the performers, told Lusa.

"This started when Ana [Laíns] invited me to participate [in 2018] in the Festas do Mar and I met her, in person, and also [Guinean] Karyna Gomes, who appeared to me as if she were an entity", said Fafá de Belém, mentioning that the idea started to germinate right away.

"The idea is to sing the voice of women in the Portuguese language", declared Fafá de Belém.

In addition to Ana Laíns, Fafá de Belém and Karyna Gomes, the project includes Anabela Aya (Angola), Anastácia Carvalho (São Tomé and Príncipe), Lura (Cape Verde), Piki Pereira (Timor-Leste) and Selma Uamusse (Mozambique).

Each of the singers performs two songs from their repertoire, and they will also "pay homage, in some way, to women who were very important in the expansion of the Portuguese language, such as Amália Rodrigues and Cesária Évora".

Thus, "all together, we perform two songs, 'Tanto Mar', by Chico Buarque and that hymn to empowered women, who fight for their own lives, 'Maria, Maria', by Milton Nascimento", said Ana Laíns, who assumes the curatorship and executive production of the show, supported, among other entities, by the Guimarães Rosa Foundation, from Brazil.

The singers will be accompanied by an ensemble composed of Paulo Loureiro (piano and orchestrations), Rolando Semedo (bass), Carlos Lopes (accordion), João Ferreira (percussion), Ana Filipa Serrão and José Pereira (violins), Joana Cipriano (viola) and Catarina Gonçalves (cello).

"Our goal is to continue, to cross the seas", said Fafá de Belém, who plans for this to be "a career show and to be presented on other Portuguese stages, but also African and Brazilian, where African music is little known", said the Brazilian singer, referring to the "pedagogical factor" of this concert, in "enlightening the Brazilian people about their own origin".

Ana Laíns, in turn, told Lusa that "there are ongoing conversations with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to take this concept, this project, to all Portuguese-speaking countries".

Laíns acknowledged that presenting the show in Timor-Leste "is the greatest challenge".

The project includes the Timorese Piki Pereira, who currently resides in the United Kingdom, and who does not have a professional career in music, but the "equitable show" is "a possibility for us to show our projects".

On this tour, there is a desire for a greater focus on stages in Brazil, a country where, although present, very widespread and assimilated, "the influence of African music is still little known", said Fafá, who added: "I am a white woman raised by black nannies, we were lulled by blacks from Africa."

"The first group of slaves to arrive in Belém do Pará came from Guinea-Bissau", said Fafá, referring to her homeland.

The show, with free admission, is part of the celebrations of the Portuguese Language Month, the month of May, and is funded by the CPLP Special Fund.

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