Heros Machado (1 June 1914 – 1 January 2004), known as Eros Volúsia was a Brazilian dancer and actress. Her dancing style blended classical ballet to Afro-Brazilian dancing traditions. Volúsia participated in several movies in Brazil and Hollywood, among them the 1942 film Rio Rita, starring Abbott and Costello.

Biography

Volúsia was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, in 1914; her parents were the poets Gilka Machado and Rodolfo Machado. Volúsia entered the ballet school in 1928, where she studied under Maria Olenewa. She also attended the

umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

''terreiro'' of João da Luz, where she had her first contact with Afro-Brazilian dances. In 1929, Volúsia made her first presentation at Theatro Municipal, dancing samba barefooted. She would make another presentations in the following years, invited by cultural salonists like Paschoal Carlos Magno. In the spirit of Brazilian modernism Volúsia researched Amerindian and African dances in order to create a "national dance" (bailado nacional). In 1935 she participated of her first Brazilian film, ''Favela dos Meus Amores''. She would be featured in other four films in Brazil. On 22 September 1941 she was featured at the cover of

Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

. The following year she participated in a musical act in the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

film Rio Rita, with Abbott and Costello. She would be compared to

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

by local media.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volúsia, Eros 1914 births 2004 deaths Actresses from Rio de Janeiro (city) 20th-century Brazilian dancers 20th-century Brazilian actresses