Every year in Brazil, the most striking and impressive holiday takes place, covering the whole country - the carnival. Initially, it was a celebration of food, and it lasted until the Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the period of Lent before Easter. The Brazilian Carnival in Rio attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to the city, where they can enjoy the throbbing sounds of samba, as well as take part in the carnival procession.
Carnival story
The word "carnival" comes from the Latin language, and according to some sources, from the Portuguese phrase "carnevale", which can be translated as "farewell to meat." This phrase refers to the carnival, as a celebration before the period of abstinence from alcohol, meat and pleasures. Rio Carnival celebrations begin one week before Ash Wednesday. In the Roman Catholic Church, this is the first day of Lent. On this day, in accordance with ancient custom, the sign of the cross is applied to the forehead by the consecrated ashes of believers.
Portuguese immigrants had their traditions of celebrating before Lent - "Entrudo" (comes from the Portuguese Shrovetide, a holiday that has been celebrated in Portugal since the 15th century). It was a very noisy fun, followed by pouring water, sprinkling with chalk and flour. The noise disturbed the townspeople, and the celebration was forbidden by decree of the king. But he moved to the homes of the rich people of the city.
In 1840, the very first carnival in Rio took place, and European dances, polka and waltz, took center stage at the festival. African slaves brought to Brazil by the Portuguese gave birth to the first rhythms of samba. As a result, the Brazilian carnival combined the European festival with African rhythms, music and dancing.
Samba - the heart of carnival
At the beginning of the 20th century, samba, considered traditional Brazilian music, sounded at the carnival, being a product of mutual love for the music of former colonists and former slaves. Samba music in street parades contributed to the emergence of samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1920s, the first samba schools were created in the city. Today, students of these schools in the heart of carnival celebrations. In southeastern cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, huge organized parades are led by samba schools.
The name of the oldest and most famous samba school, founded in 1928, is Mangueira. This educational institution promises to present a fascinating show in Rio at the carnival of 2018 in one of Scala nightclubs. The best samba schools such as Salgueiro, Mocidade, GrandeRio and BeijaFlor usually follow the example of Mangueira.
Sambódromo Stadium
Whereas in the 19th century, residents of the Rio regions took part in carnival parades with groups of people led by samba dancing, accompanied by drummers and other musicians, from the middle of the 20th century the carnival has become a rival arena for Samba schools. Street parades became more and more dynamic with the advent of samba schools, which subsequently led to the need to build a stadium. The spirit of competition required a powerful arena for the presentation of dances, and soon, in 1984, Sambodromo (Sambodrom) was built. This is a product of the design work of the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. The grandiose structure, consisting of three floors, has a length of a little less than a kilometer and is designed for 70 thousand spectators. Since then, the stadium has been constantly modified, embodying the new ideas of numerous immigrants.
King Momo
The grandiose carnival holiday begins with the transfer of symbolic keys to the city to the "owner" of the holiday, the fattest man who was chosen from all applicants (weight not less than 110 kg). Four days lasts his power in the city. His responsibilities include staying at Sambodrom, visiting balls and competitions, and more than two hundred of them. And one more duty of the "owner" of the carnival - he must dance all the time.
Sambodrome for the holiday turns into a world with fabulous pictures, including fire-breathing dragons, pirate ships, underwater kingdoms. Chinese sages and Roman legionnaires, Neanderthals and even the head of the Gorgon jellyfish swim in the stands of jubilant spectators in the solemn parade of sambo. For three nights in front of an enthusiastic audience, a series of platforms with half-naked mulattos dancing on them pass, swim, pass.
Carnival spirit
In fact, the origin of the Brazilian carnival is "pretense." Almost a week of carnival is endless holidays. Only these few days of the year are “allowed” to pretend to be someone. The poor can wear expensive suits; the rich can mix with the crowd of ordinary people. Most of the population dresses in colorful outfits and takes to the streets. By the way, in honor of the enchanting feast, the tulip variety was named - "Carnival de Rio", which is comparable to the costumes of the petals with dresses at carnival processions. The clothing options are truly endless!
Men can wear women's clothing, girls at the carnival in Rio de Janeiro are practically not dressed. All that can be called clothing is a set of sequins and feathers. A carnival is a legitimate opportunity to allow yourself to forget everyday problems and escape to a fantasy world.
Samba schools
The official Samba parade is a carnival contest in which the best of the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro participate. What is a samba school? We can say that this is an association of people who practice samba during the year, honing the dance to perfection. Each school has from 3 to 5 thousand people. Of these, most will participate in the procession, and represent their school, and, of course, strive to be among the six best schools. These schools will participate in the final part of the holiday.
In 1933, the first competition in samba parades took place. The purpose of the parade is to give samba schools the opportunity to demonstrate all their talents. They need to choose their theme for the carnival and write a song that will perfectly reflect this theme. The school is represented by a standard bearer, a master of ceremonies and a group of drummers. Major League contests are booked for Sunday and Monday.
There is also a “second league". The schools of this league give a presentation on Tuesday night. Parades take place at the Sambodrome Stadium in the central suburbs of Santo Cristo. At the Rio Carnival in 2018, which will be held from February 10 to 13, passionate samba dancers, in their fantastic and, as always, provocative costumes, will force everyone present to join the celebration.
Samba Parade in Sambódromo
The parade at Sambodrom is a demonstration of what the participants of this or that school of samba achieved during the months of preparation. This is a theatrical performance on a pre-selected topic. Colorful show: fashion show of samba schools, accompanied by music and singing. Each school has its own flag and color. Each school has its own fans who like to attend rehearsals during the year, and are “sick” at the carnival for their school, supporting it during the performance no less excitingly than at a football match.
In 2017, more than 70 samba schools took part in the Carnival, which was held from February 25 to 28. The jury evaluates the performance of schools in many ways. This is the cohesion of the team, the disclosure of the topic, the correspondence of the choreography to this topic, and the ability to meet the time allotted for the performance (from 65 to 80 minutes). The prize received by the samba school that won the carnival is about $ 1 million. There is something to fight for!
Street parades
Street parades in Brazilian cities are commonplace. They are arranged not only during carnival festivals in Rio de Janeiro and other cities of Brazil, they take their start in November. Tourists can join dancing groups or parties. It is worth noting that you need to be careful. Parties are not only funny. Relatively safe walks are usually in the southern zone and the city center, where karioki walk (the name of the inhabitants of Rio). These fun people consider themselves the happiest people on the planet.
But the merit of the carnival is that during the fireworks of the passions that rages at the carnival, all the negativity and complexes are burned. People get a tremendous charge of vivacity and fun, which means happiness!