Colorful costumes, dancing and food brought a little of Brazil to Ames on Saturday night.

The Brazilian-Portuguese Association held its first “Brazilian Night” to showcase Brazilian culture for the community. Grace da Rosa, president of BPA, said she wanted the audience to learn how beautiful and culturally rich the country and its people are.

“Our hope is that at the end of the night each and every one will fall in love with Brazil,” she said.

Many Americans don’t know much about Brazil, so events like this are important for learning, said Augusto Liska, a global commodity manager at Sauer Danfoss Inc.

“Many people think all we have is rain forest and soccer, but it is much more,” he said.

Brazil changes from region to region because of the slaves and European immigrants who inhabited the country. There are two different Brazils, the north and the south. This event was more representative of the culture found in northern Brazil, Liska said.

Before dinner, audience members joined in singing the Brazilian national anthem as they watched a video featuring various aspects of Brazilian life and culture. An English translation of the anthem was included on the video to help those who didn’t speak Portuguese.

The video included scenes from soccer games and factories along with footage of a fashion show and life in the rain forest.

The dinner featured a traditional dish called feijoada, a stew of black beans and pork poured over rice. The dish was chosen because it is one custom that is truly representative of Brazil, da Rosa said.

“The food represents each state,” she said. “Everybody knows it.”

Dessert was bolo de coco, coconut cake and bananinha. Bananinha is similar to a caramel but is flavored with bananas instead of milk.

The night’s entertainment showcased seven traditional dances from Brazil. Some dancers wore traditional costumes typical of what is worn at Carnival, the Brazilian Mardi Gras. Most of the colorful and elaborate costumes were designed and sewn by BPA members.

Two Brazilian dances were performed to present an important part of the culture’s history.

The capoeira and the maculele were danced among the slaves. Slaves intended to revolt against the ruling class, so they trained themselves to fight. Because they couldn’t openly train, they disguised their lessons by limiting contact and adding music to create dances, said Acacia Oliveira, a forro dancer from Des Moines.

“It looks like a dance, but at the same time they’re actually fighting,” she said.

Although each dance has a specific rhythm in its music, the steps and style vary throughout the country, Oliveira said.

“Brazil is very diverse. Everybody dances differently,” she said.

Dancing is a central part of Brazilian culture and the music is in the blood, da Rosa said. Brazilians dance because they are a happy people who enjoy celebrating. Dancing is a way to forget about any problems or difficulties they face in life, she said.

“Brazilians are a very happy people. They don’t let problems overwhelm them,” she said. “Everything is reason to celebrate, to party.”