Life after Carnival

And so it began - the Winners Parade of the Rio Carnival - the best five schools of the competition were lining up to parade down the Sambadrome. Arriving early to get our seats, the rest of the staff and I on a rare collective night off cheered as fireworks and the baterias exploded into action. The Brazilian Carnival is more than just a party. Its history going back to the 18th century when the Portuguese brought the idea across the seas where the huge African slave population adopted it as their own. They played a vital role in injecting soul and vibrancy in to the event that still resonates today - so much so that the slaves were allowed these three days off a year to become involved. Rio Carnival is the embodiment of beautiful and glorious escapism - men dress as women and the proletariat are the Kings and Queens of Rio, looked on in awe by the bourgeois and the aristocracy, that is unless they themselves participated, usually dressing as slaves.


Clockwise from top left - Manguiera's first of 5 giant floats approach. The Bateria dressed as prisoners. Flag bearer and escort leading the Passistas (dancing girls). Heading toward the end of the Sambadrome, denoted by Oscar Neimier's famous arch.

Now a highly competitive event, as big as Brazilian football (if not more so) there are 12 schools in the top (Special) group, the most famous including Salguerio (last year's winners) Beija Flor, Mangueira and Grange Rio, and 12 schools in the second (Access) group. Each school desperately fight for the respect and prestige of winning the Carnival or to gain league promotion, and can achieve this title though the inventiveness and brilliance of their fantasias (costumes), dancing, floats, bateria (drum squad), flag bearer, Vanguard Commission (leading dance wing), school song and overall theme. Each school having anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 participants, all in full costume, there are many different 'wings' to the parade, meaning that you will often see 20-30 different styles of costume per school with up to 100 dancers, each more brilliant, bright, inventive and fun than the next. An orchestrated explosion of colour and creativity, combined with the impeccably professional floats, a sea of dancing, drumming and song, the paraders wash through, wave after wave in all their feathered and bejewelled glory with beaming smiles - the Carnival brings tears of joy and admiration to hundreds of onlookers, and it's not hard to see why.


Three left-most pictures - dancer girls on the parade floats. The Mangueira flag bearer and her escort, bottom right and one of their impressive floats, top right.

The pictures can only tell some of the story - to see some of the work of this year's winners, Unidos da Tijuca, click this link to see their Vanguard Commission in their magical element of their theme 'Secrets':



Notice 6 costume changes in 2 minutes! This is just a small element of their show that included the mystery of the Library of Alexandria and Michael Jackson (who appeared from a pod in an 'Area 51' float dancing samba - so that's where he's got to...)

I feel very privileged, not only have watched this incredible event, but to also have been a participant and to be involved in the escapism by being someone I wouldn't normally be (a Roman Centurion, Transformer, Father Christmas hybrid being a less than regular alter-ego I tend to indulge in) and to see the wonderment and nature of this global spectacle.


My video of Salgueiro at the Winners Parade (more on youtube.com)

The days after the Carnival are sad days for Brazilians and unofficially considered the Brazilian New Year. Like peacocks without their tail feathers, the kings and queens of the past week are now faced with the realisation that this will fail to be the case again for another 360 days, and to quench this withdrawal they head to the beach (usually with a caiprinha in hand). I had written previously that Ipanema and Copacabana are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. This is only true in the sense of famous, popular beaches, though any famous popular beach is often spoiled for this very reason - there are too many people. This is why I headed out with a friend to Barra da Tijuca beach during a trek out to the South West coast of the city. With fine white sand and light blue waters that stretch on for miles, the beach is tranquil and blissfully free of vendors - a swarm of salesmen pacing the busy beaches shouting "Cerveja! Cerveja! Agua! Agua!" constantly and harasing you for business. Cunningly equipped with sun cream this time to avoid previous pains, we stayed until sundown before seeking out a Bosa Nova club in town.


Sundown at praia da Barra da Tijuca

In more recent days I have been exploring new parts of town with friends including old coffee houses, the rocks overlooking the ocean in Aproadore, an incredible local sea food restaurant 'Sobrenatural', the best cake shop / museum in Rio and learning the joys of Nos Normais (Brazil's favourite sitcom), as well as just hanging out on the poussada balcony catching some sun with a good book. A special mention has to go out here to XB and FW for making the last weeks especially memorable. And while I am making special mentions, I also need to say farewell to Daniela who I have been working with all this time at Casa 579 who is returning home to Mexico. I couldn't have done this job without her here with me - we've had such a great time at the blocos during Carnival and at get-togethers at Casa Amarela making music and trying our hand (or should I say feet?) at samba. You will be sorely missed.

Daniela has since been replaced by another Mexicana, Lisset - someone who I appear to have already made an impression on. When I invited her to join me for a run the other day, I spoke in Portuguese asking if she wanted to 'correr', using hand gestures in the way that I now do to complement my speech. A shocked look appeared on her face and she left the room without a word... It turns out that 'correr' in Spanish is to 'have sex'. In this case, the hand gestures only seemed to make matters worse. Fortunately, all was cleared up and we did go for that run (and no, that's not a euphemism) and order seems to have restored at the house, though I remain ever conscious of the linguistic minefield that still lies ahead.

With more trips planned as my time here in Rio gradually reaches an end, it turns out there is life after Carnival after all...

Thanks for all your support by writing comments and sending emails - It's great to hear from everyone at home, so please keep it up! Until next time,


Dan


PS - if you want to see anymore short movie clips of the trip, type 'dandoestheworld' in to YouTube. Hope you enjoy!