Glitter, feather headdresses and the rest of the Carnival paraphernalia have returned to Rio de Janeiro this weekend, but in a reduced format because, in reality, it is an appetizer of the big party. Again, because of the pandemic. In April, the main capital of the Brazilian carnival and the rest of the country will celebrate the official festivities after a postponement due to the ravages of the omicron variant. This carnival preview has been peculiar, but important for those who life is almost a countdown until the next edition. “Being here is a victory, a resurrection,” said Erika Souza, 34, a choreography assistant at the Viradouro school, on Sunday night, ready to see her colleagues parade. Without a mask, thousands of people have resumed Carnival after 2021 went down in history as the first year without parades or street parties.
The Rio de Janeiro carnival aperitif has consisted of many private parties for those who could pay for them, illegal gatherings around street troupes and a mini-parade of the classic samba schools.
Around midnight, with a temperature of 24 degrees, the City of Samba was a kingdom of impossible heels and necklines, silicone breasts, sequins, glitter, a lot of skin, selfie everywhere and songs sung with emotion by an audience that knows by heart from the first to the last verse. To enter, everyone had to prove they were vaccinated against the coronavirus. The group of warehouses where during the rest of the year they make costumes and floats was the place chosen for a parade organized by the league of samba schools that aimed to kill the desire to party and whet your appetite. Roseni de Souza, 56 years old, had arrived as every year, except last year, from Canoes (Rio Grande do Sul). “It was important to be here to support the carnival community,” she explained during a break from the mini-parade.
It was a jibarized version of the one that is televised to the whole world every year from the Sambadrome designed by Óscar Niemeyer, converted by the pandemic into a vaccination center. Only 150 members danced for each group, which under normal circumstances can be around 4,000 people. Each one, with its entanglement, the story and the choreography that are expressly designed for each edition. The always impressive dancers displayed a devilish rhythm under immense and elaborate feather headdresses, the flag bearers, the body of dancers, musicians and the veterans of the comparsas paraded.
Among those who paraded, Mangueira, with his flag bearer Squel Jorgea, who a year ago received this newspaper in the then soulless headquarters of the school to talk about a moment that no one imagined and has already entered history like so many others because of the pandemic.
Thousands of people ignored the authorities online with the transgressive spirit to which Carnival is consecrated. Some blocks, a kind of charangas, came out although the municipal authorities had not authorized them, unlike private parties. Reason why some have baptized it as the carnival of inequality.
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For De Souza it is important to travel to Rio every year because the Carnival is “a space to show our culture, the black culture.” Samba is part of the rich artistic legacy of the slaves who helped build Brazil. It was persecuted for many decades like many other cultural expressions, including capoeira.
And it is also an important economic sector in Rio and in other cities in Brazil with famous Carnivals such as Salvador de Bahía or Recife because it creates tens of thousands of jobs. It involves the development of musical compositions, choreographies, costumes… and a massive audience. They are, for many Brazilians, the most anticipated dates of the year.
Carnival is the culmination of many months of work. Everything was ready in December to celebrate it on the dates indicated in the calendar, now, at the end of February, but the omicron variant ruined all plans. The mayors decided to take care of their health and postpone the parades and the blocos for April. It was a blow to the comparsas that last year had the first blank year in more than a century of history. In 1892 and 1912 it had to be delayed due to an epidemic of yellow fever and as a sign of mourning for the death of the father of Brazilian diplomacy, the Baron of Rio Branco, respectively, but finally it could be held.
“Tonight is a mini-carnival. God willing, in April we will be back for the full Carnival, ”said Maximiliano Leite, 42, a composer who arrived like every edition from Porto Alegre, who was waiting for him, Salgueiro, to leave school. Brazilians are often devoted to a samba school, a love similar to that professed for a soccer team. Leite is from Salgueiro because he is red and white, like the Porto Alegre International, the soccer club he loves.
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