London-based director Alex Tiernán returns to NOWNESS with a high-spirited music video for the Brazilian group, Heavy Baile. Soundtracked by the music collective’s infectious fusion of carioca funk and electronic music, this energetic film shows the journey of a neighborhood cook who shirks his responsibilities in order to dance the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

“The cook in this film resembles ‘the malandro’ of Brazilian literature and music,” says Tiernán. “The malandro is a lovable scoundrel who eschews work and relies on his wit to sidestep authority. In a country that is deeply unequal he has become a national hero.”

Jonathan Neguebites, the dancer who plays the absconding cook, performs elements of the passinho, popping and locking, and Chicago footwork with an exuberance that typifies the playfulness of modern Brazilian music and dance. “Carioca funk comes from the favelas and represents a lot of the malandro’s values of defiance and resourcefulness," says Tiernán. “Ultimately, this film is an expression of the unique spontaneity and genius of the Brazilian spirit”