Nós de Chita stands for “we who wear Chita,” referring to a fabric used in the clothes, accessories, and home decor of the working-class people of Brazil. The band entertains with lively stories, Brazilian music and language, and vibrantly colored costumes.
The group was founded by Claudia Lyria, who serves as artistic director. Lyra says that she is passionate about keeping the traditional music, dance and language of her native country alive. “When I was a young child in Brazil, I admired how people lived their daily lives with rhythm and dance,” says Lyra, who earned a B.S. degree in psychology and has obtained teaching certifications in art education, percussion, and expressive arts. “Listening to the women sing beautiful songs while washing clothes along the river, hearing the rhythms that people make holding match boxes, and watching a circle of barefoot people playing 'capoeira' in the middle of the street, moved my soul.”
Lyra founded San Diego’s Brazil Cultural Center, and she teaches Portuguese language as well as presenting Nós de Chita throughout San Diego County.