Hi all,
Well, we are two days through the four official days of Carnaval, though this exuberant Brazilian festival seems to have been going on for weeks. Don’s house is only a couple of kilometres from the Sambrodrome, so if you turn the TV’s sound down, you can still hear the bands playing. TV is my participation medium of choice, as the crowds seem a bit much for me.
As you may, or may not, know, each night of Carnaval, a parade of 8 different ‘escolas de samba’ (samba schools) make their way through the streets of Rio — although, in reality, the various ‘escolas’ are more ‘clubs’ than ‘schools’. Each escola works assiduously throughout the year preparing for their role in the celebratory Carnaval parade. Astoundingly, there are between three and four thousand people in EACH escola, which is why it takes at least two hours for one escola to pass by.
Each of the escolas develop their own garishly magnificent costuming, all revolving around the theme of celebration. Most of the groups wear a sort of poncho-like covering over their shoulders, laden with glitter and sequins and costume jewelry; the more sparkle, the better. Over the ‘poncho’ each parade participant carries a large ‘shoulder rack’, supporting three or four-foot decoratively feathered headdresses. Some participants wear boots outfitted especially for the parades, as well. Each parade participant carries papier maché ‘hands’ (a la J Frederick Brown), and elongated poles covered in decorative scarves. And, finally, each group has developed their own choreographic steps. Not a simple task, this dancing, when one is laden with a five-foot high headdress.
One of the participating groups which impressed me most go by the name of ‘Bahianas’, who to a person (all women) are costumed rather like white Christmas trees, with white scarves around their heads, white blouses that are fuller at the waist than the shoulder, and white aprons with a hoop that they flare out, complemented by white hoop skirt. The Bahianas move with a poetic agility, with lots of well-choreographed and utterly-amazing-to-see, swirling movement, making for a magnificent spectacle indeed.s
Further back in one crowd of dancers was a single woman, her garishly ornate and absolutely stunning to behold costume a riot of hoops of varying diameters. The costume looked as if it weighed a tonne, but the woman took her movement in stride (sorry for the play on words). The woman’s male parnter was dressed like a town crier, resplendent in a tailcoat and high-heeled boots. Both the man and the woman carried the de rigueur feathery ensemble, their fluttery gala scarves swirling in captivating design. The man’s dance work was easily the equal of his partner, the impression he made all that more dynamic given the surfeit of sequins and feathers which complemented his town crier costume.
And then there are the floats. Each escola prepares between three and six floats, designed for flash and spectacle (engineering stability seems a secondary consideration). The floats are propelled from behind by the dancers, so they can’t be too heavy, I guess. The dancers on the float platforms create such a trampoline-like series of bounces that one older man who was sharing a platform with two energetic samba girls wouldn’t let go of the railing for the life of him, even to wave at the crowds. Although he seemed to be having fun, he looked a bit terrified, too.
The bands accompanying the escolas are given mostly to percussive instrumentation, employing all variety of drums. Needless to say, the band members are also garishly outfitted, and equally proud of their role in the parade and the celebration. Even before the first dancers can be seen on the streets the bands make their way through the parade route, whereupon they find a resting spot along the perimeter of the parade route, to allow the escolas full marching and dancing room through which to pass. This way, there is music for everyone to dance to. At parade’s end, the bands comes out from their perimeter ‘corrals’, and march off with the last of the dancers, and the parade is at an end.
Even though you might think that the female parade participants are made up, in the main, of barely clad young girls (this is what television focuses on), in point of fact, these young women make up less than one percent of the participants of each group of 4000. That’s good for the rest of us, who might want to participate in the parade. Perhaps, though, if you are an energetic young man (or a dirty old man, for that matter) desiring only to see glittery, bare-breasted and barely clad skin, moving along lasciviously through the night air, this might not be such a good thing. Oh well. By the way, gringos are very much encouraged to participate in the Carnaval parade procession, although costumes must be rented.
Carnaval ran through this past Saturday and Sunday and wraps on Tuesday night. Each night’s festivities commences around 9 p.m., before winding down somewhere towards 7 a.m. the next morning. Each night eight ‘escolas’ parade through the streets, while a passel of judges look on. This coming Saturday there will be final parade, consisting of the ‘escolas’ chosen by the judges as the most dynamic and entertaining.
Just watching Carnaval participants can be an exhausting exercise. As for me, I start watchingon TV at 9 p.m., go to bed after awhile, wake up in the middle of the night, watch a bit more of the festivities on television, and then once again proceed back to bed. It’s true that by watching the parades on television that I have denied myself the visceral thrill of actually being present within the throngs of people. But, at the end of the day, I am well rested, I have foregone the cost of having to outfit myself, and any worries about my personal safety have been put into relief. And, really, there’s only so much one can do with fabric and feathers and glitter and skin, anyway (I can’t believe this is me writing this …).
As for my personal involvement in Carnaval, I’ve enjoyed the smaller, more intimate, neighbourhood-oriented Carnaval parties, with a local band parading down nearby streets, while my neighbours march with the band through the cool air of the nighttime streets. Rain, a sort of drizzle, has not put a damper, on my neighbours’ enthusiasm for the Carnaval celebrations, although the feathers and sequins and costumery do become a bit lank after hours of steady drizzle.
Enjoying myself in Rio, but looking forward to my return to Canada, and to the cherry-blossom, spring-like weather of Vancouver.
See you soon.
Love,
Corinne
