The Boi Corre Campo came to be on March 1, 1942, in the neighborhood of Cachoeirinha, thanks to the enthusiasm of the young Astrogildo Pereira dos Santos, Miro Santos, Antônio Altino da Silva, Dionízio Gomes, Mauro Cruz and others who at that time played in the ‘Garrote Tira Teima’.
Despite the difficulties, the kids did not wane and began rehearsing, singing with Borba at Ajuricaba. They danced in enclosures and in the houses they were invited to.
With the demise of the bumbás Caprichoso and Vencedor, Corre Campos, along with Mina de Ouro gained the admiration and applause of the public.
In 1952, Fast Club promoted a festival at the old Ipiranga field and Corre Campo took 1st place. The same happened in 1957, when the 1st Folk Festival was promoted at the General Osório Stadium.
The first ox was framed with wooden slats, vines, and was covered in flannel. In 1945, Lauro Chibé was commissioned an ox that lasted until 1970, when Miro dismantled it and made another more modern, introducing modifications, such as moving the ear, the tail, and showing the tongue. Currently, a more modern ox was made by the artist Jair Mendes. The costume designers Custódio, João, and José Luiz are responsible for the polychromatic beauty of the costumes.
THE PLOT OF BOI BUMBÁ
PAI FRANCISCO, an old peasant, returns to his shack, after cultivating his small land, to rest with his beloved pregnant wife CATIRINA. At one point, he looks out of his shack and sees an ox eating his plantation. Enraged, and attending to his wife’s cravings for meat, he takes his shotgun, pairs up with his friend CAZUMBÁ and shoots at close range. Believing he killed the BOSS’s pet ox, he flees in fear and takes refuge inside his shack.
BOSS, missing his pet ox, calls for his henchmen and sends them looking for it. They find it lying by the pasture on the edge of a trough. The henchmen come back giving the sad news.
BOSS calls for his TRUSTY BOY to break the news of who might have killed his ox. The BOY, from rumors, knew it had been PAI FRANCISCO. BOSS then sends BOY to arrest him.
He arrives at PAI FRANCISCO’s house and is received by bullets, he then returns to BOSS and tells him how he had been received.
BOSS then orders to deliver a letter to the DIRECTOR OF THE INDIANS, asking him to arrest PAI FRANCISCO, CATIRINA, and his accomplice CAZUMBÁ.
The DIRECTOR OF THE INDIANS demands that a PRIEST baptizes his caboclos, before arresting PAI FRANCISCO and the others. PAI FRANCISCO is then arrested and presented, all tied up, to BOSS, when he confesses to be the author of the ox’s death.
As a last resort, BOSS suggests for PAI FRANCISCO to look for DR. OF LIFE, a famous local healer, to try to cure the ox.
Dr. OF LIFE arrives and finds that the ox is not dead and after prescribing a remedy the ox rises to the joy of BOSS and all the boys. Then the party continues with BOSS singing songs of praises.
Recife, July 22, 2003.
how to quote this text
Abelardo da Hora. Boi Bumbá Corre Campo. In: PESQUISA Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2003. Available from: https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/pt-br/artigo/boi-bumba-corre-campo/. Access on: Month. day, year. (Ex.: Aug. 6, 2021.)