Beatboxing, dancing nuns on TV go viral online

Ss Marizele Cassiano and Marisa de Paula, from the Copiosa Redenção congregation, were on a show on the Catholic TV channel Pai Eterno, hosted by Redemptorist Deacon Giovane Bastos.

When asked about their vocations, Sr Marizele began to sing a refrain – “Vocação, ooh” – from a song about the call to religious life. She then began to beatbox, with Sr Marisa responding by standing up and dancing. Deacon Bastos also joined in.

Beatboxing is a musical artform that uses the vocal tract to mimic percussion and other sound effects.

The sisters’ performance has been covered by ABC News, the Associated Press, People magazine, the Times of India and The View, and has been watched almost 250,000 times on Deacon Bastos’s Instagram account alone.

Sr Marizele is originally from Paraná in southern Brazil and entered religious life in her mid-20s. Early in her formation, she sensed that God had a special plan for her related to music, and she received a personal promise in prayer that she would one day lead other musicians.

Five years ago, Sr Marizele was invited to participate in Programa Vozes (Voices), a show on TV Evangelizar, a Brazilian Catholic network. Through that experience, she felt God awakening “a new mission within her vocation: music”.

“After the programme, I realised God was calling me to evangelise through music. It was an old promise of his that began to sprout in my heart,” she said, referring to that earlier sense of calling.

Embracing this path, Sr Marizele went on to record an album of religious songs. The album, titled Celebrar a Redenção (Celebrate Redemption), includes eight songs, four of which are her own original compositions.

FULL STORY

Brazilian nuns go viral after beatboxing on Catholic TV (By Thomas Edwards/Catholic Herald)

Breaking Down the Beat: The Art and Science of Beatboxing (University of Southern California)