Renato Dias

I have sung Coimbra fado since my university days, and it is a different tradition entirely from the Lisbon style, sung only by men in academic capes. On camera I show a small venue before a session starts, the guitars being tuned and the room filling slowly. I explain what separates our style, tied to student life rather than fate, and I am careful never to promise more than the camera can actually capture of a live performance. I keep the phone steady on the musicians rather than the audience, since the instruments are what most viewers have never seen up close. I answer questions about the tradition in as much depth as anyone wants.