The Reciclarte Institute is a musical education program that offers music classes to more then 150 underprivileged children and youth from the Grota do Surucuru community, the Morro do Estado and Piratininga Lagoon in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro.
The Institute aims to develop artistic potentials, cultural identities and citizenship consciousness: stimulate the intellectual development and the self-esteem of children and youth in social risk situations.
The main development activities are: Musical learning and sheet reading, chord instruction classes, flute, vocal techniques, choral practices, orchestras and musical group formation.
There are a varity of results from these activities: income generation through the Chords Orchestra presentations, Flute Set and Black & Voices, participation of some students in the Petrobrás Pró-Música Jovem and Villa- Lobinhos, from the Villa Lobos Museum, projects. There's also the participation of the youth, where more advanced students works as monitors
of the courses.
The Orchestra traveled to Portugal, invited by the Coimbra University, to make 10 presentations across the country.
A new choir started in 2006 and they will soon start presentations. The Orchestra D was recently launched, which consists of the students that started learning violin last year. There are also plans to launch an album this year.
Besides all of this, two young girls from the Orchestra passed the entrance exams and were accepted for University in 2006. One of which has already started her classes and the other will start to study Educational Studies at the UFF in the second semester. Reciclarte has expectations that these girls can be used as role models and stimulate others to study giving them higher possibilities to win the unfair battle set by the entrance exams and finally start an academic education.
The Grota Orchestra has had important presentations this year, this April in the Niteroi Spain Encounter and at the Carlos Gomes Theater in Rio during the "Transforming through art" tour.
Dreams Brasil has worked with Reciclarte, helping them come up with a strategic plan for the group, and also assisting them build a board of directors, ensuring future successed through the maintence of funds.
