As Ceifeiras de Entradas and Djaimilia Pereira

The parish of Entradas has always been a land of singers. In times gone by “Os Ceifeiros” of Entradas took the Modas of Alentejo far, with their peculiar melodic form and poetic interpretation typical of this region of Campo Branco. For too long the voices of a group were not heard. The whisper of voices that wanted to raise again the songs of the Alentejo Tradition could be felt throughout the parish. The wave of that feeling became too strong and created the desire to form a Coral Group but this time a feminine one.

As a result of countless performances all over the place and wanting to contribute to the cultural history of Entradas, they edited their first record, called “Chão”, in 2012, on the occasion of the Historical Memory of the Five Hundred Years of the Foral de Entradas, commissioned by King Manuel I. Having opted for Ethnography, the “Ceifeiras” update a set of knowledge stamped on the clothes they present and on some implements used in the field work. They show some figures from the field of that time, such as the reaper and the weeder, among others. They wear a black hat, a bright scarf, a blouse, a shawl, a skirt, high socks and an apron. The lap strap carries the balsa or talego hanging from the arm. They wear tall boots and flat shoes made of leather.

Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida is a writer. She wrote, among others, Luanda, Lisbon, Paraíso and Três Histórias de Esquecimento. Her books and essays are published in Portugal, Brazil, the United States of America, Argentina, German-speaking countries, and soon in Arabic, Catalan, Danish, Slovak, Italian and Mandarin. She received, among others, the Oceanos Prize 2019 and 2020, the Fundação Inês de Castro Prize 2018 and the Fundação Eça de Queiroz Prize 2019. Zürich in Spring 2022. She received her PhD in Literary Theory at the University of Lisbon. She was born in Luanda and grew up in the suburbs of Lisbon.