Mother’s Day: ‘She was always a visionary’, says Zabelê about Baby do Brasil

In testimony to Manuela Ferraro

“It’s hard to describe my mother because she was always very different. Baby is a woman of great determination and courage, she has a zest for life that is inspiring. Always dedicated, with a way of seeing life that is at the same time very light and very present.

Sometimes love is not being there 24/7, but the quality of attention and concern. And we felt it in the way she included me and my brothers [Sarah Sheeva, Nãna Shara, Kriptus Gomes, Pedro Baby e Krishna Baby] in your artist life.

My mother and my father [Pepeu Gomes] always loved having us around. When we could, we traveled together, we went to Salvador, to Carnival, we stayed with them at the hotel. And we attended their shows when possible. At the time of the Novos Baianos, I remember my mother breastfeeding me in the wings.

I look at it these days and I’m wondering, ‘Would I be able to do it? Having six children and giving the same love and attention to everyone, with such a heavy workload?’ This requires a lot of energy, focus and attention.

I say she was the mother of impossible causes. I remember a time when I was in the United States, missing a lot, studying dance in the late 90’s. One day she called me and said: “Guess where I am?”. And she was there to surprise me and spend a few days with me. Whenever we thought things weren’t going to work out, my mom would come up with an amazing solution.

We would raid her closet when we were teenagers and she would go crazy. “Please don’t take my show clothes,” she would say. Can you imagine? All expensive, made by couturiers, by stylists. And when she traveled, we had a party. One fine day she arrived by surprise and caught everyone dressed as Baby in the room (laughs).

I figured she would ground us, but we never had that kind of education. My parents called for a DR [discussão de relação]. But my mother’s RD was so deep and so intense that we couldn’t make mistakes anymore. We thought, “If I mess up again, there’s going to be that three-hour talk again. I’d better be on the straight and narrow.” It felt more like a therapy session. Not judgmental, but conversational.

My mother was also careful with her food, which was always organic, natural. We were vegetarians for ten years. She has always been a visionary. She loved to party, another hallmark of our upbringing. We had parties every weekend. Our birthdays were a big musical party, with many artists, the children of Caetano, Gil, A Cor do Som, Armandinho. I like to party every day. This I owe to my mother.

She inspired us in fashion in her way of dressing and posing. We never needed to be within the standards to be accepted in the world. Be who you are, that’s what matters, have your own personality, be free to do what you like and what you love.

People thought it was different, they asked why my parents had colored hair. And we thought it was fun, because they put themselves very lightly. We found it more fun to be with my parents than with our own friends. My mother marked my life as a woman of great strength, a lot of determination and always showing that we can be who we are.”