Grupo Folclórico Tempos de Outrora

In 1993, a group of friends from San Jose and the surrounding cities joined together to participate in a “bodo de leite” and began learning to sing and dance popular folklore songs, from the nine beautiful islands of the Azores. In a few simple practices and memorable gatherings, “Grupo Folclórico em Tempos de Outrora” was born. A year later, the group was officially established as a non-profit organization in the state of California with the mission to educate the public, and its group members, of the music, dance, and song of our Azorean ancestors. In 1996 “Tempos de Outrora” performed at its first Folklore Festival of California, in the city of San Pablo, weaving itself into a part of the beautiful tradition that has now lasted for more than thirty years. “Tempos” had the privilege of hosting the festival in 1999 and again for the 30th anniversary in 2012. At the majority of its performances, “Tempos de Outrora” takes great pride in not just sharing the dance and music of the Azores, but also describing the history and culture of the archipelago, explaining the unique clothing from all nine islands, and showing the antique artifacts once used by our ancestors in their daily lives. Our group is very fortunate to have the ability to have performed at every performance since 1993 with live singing and music; we also take great pride in having in our repertoire over 35 dances from all nine Azorean islands. “Tempos” has performed at various Portuguese, religious, and international festivals all throughout California, including weddings and school events. Many other memorable performances include traveling to the Azores in 1999 and performing in Terceira at the COFIT festival, in Faial at Semana do Mar, and in Graciosa for the Festa de Santo Cristo. In 2001, our group returned to the Azores to perform on the islands of Terceira, São Jorge, and Pico. One year later, the group traveled to the Hawaiian island of Maui to present various traditional Azorean culinary meals and perform for the distant Portuguese communities who reside there. In 2003, “Tempos” shared the Azorean culture and folklore with communities in Vancouver, Canada for the Azorean Cultural Week celebrations, and returned one year later for the Festa do Espirito Santo. In 2005, “Tempos de Outrora” represented Azorean traditions to the Brazilian communities in São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Rio de Janeiro. In 2010, the group returned to Hawaii, to the island of Oahu, to present culinary and dance workshops for the SCOPO convention. It is the hopes of our group that our incredible Azorean culture and folklore continues to flourish around the world for many more generations to come.