Rio Carnival - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Rio Carnival Culture and History
| Carnival Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Once a pagan celebration in ancient Rome, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is now considered one of the greatest shows on Earth. Rio is known as the cultural capital of Brazil and was the capital from 1822 to 1960, when it was moved to Brasilia. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1723. The famous carnival parade has been going on since the 1930s. The parade starts Sunday evening and continues into early morning Monday of the celebration. In 1984 the parade finally found its permanent home, the Sambadrome. The Sambadrome is a large structure that was built in the downtown area, which includes several buildings that make a circular open area in the middle. In the off season, the buildings of the Sambadrome are used as classrooms for the local public schools. The carnival parade is filled with people and floats from various samba schools. A samba school can either be an actual school or just a collaboration of local neighbors that want to attend carnival. There is a special order that every school has to follow with their parade entries. Each school beings with the "comissão de frente", which is the first wing. The "comissão de frente" is made up of ten to fifteen people only, and they are the ones who introduce the school and set the mood. These people have choreographic dances in fancy costumes that usually tell a short story. |
Following the "comissão de frente" is the first float of the samba school, called "abre-alas".
Some of the important roles include the porta-bandeira and mestre-sala. The porta-bandeira is a very
important lady who is in charge of the samba school flag, including making sure to not allow the flag
to roll. She is accompanied by the mestre-sala, who is supposed to draw everyone’s attention to ‘his
queen,’ the port-bandeira. Floatees, who are also important, are the people who populate the floats,
also known as destaques. The floatees have the most luxurious and expensive costumes that can be
extremely heavy. Along with all the floatees is one main floatee that is located at the top of each float.
The main destaque dances and sings for the entire time that the float is on the runway.
Balls
Besides the magnificent carnival parade, there are wonderful balls. Balls of every kind can be found in
Rio including gala balls, balls for singles, and gay balls. The gala balls are the only luxury balls that
are still around that can be enjoyed at the Copacabana Palace. Many different people attend the gala
balls such as local socialites, soccer players, models, and international stars. The gala balls are a
luxury event which requires black tie or fancy costumes. Besides the fancy gala balls are more casual
and specific balls including the balls for singles and gays. Balls for singles are found at Copacabana
Beach and a club called Scala. Gay balls are found at the Gala Gay at Scala and are open to
everyone, especially for those with alternative lifestyles.
Street Carnival
As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana
Palace and beach, many of the carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very
common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals. Elegance and extravagance are
usually left behind, but music and dancing are still extremely common. Anyone is allowed to
participate in the street festivals. Bandas and bondos are very familiar with the street carnival
especially because it takes nothing to join in on the fun expect to jump in. One of the most well known
bandas of Rio is Banda de Ipanema. Banda de Ipanema was first created in 1965 and is known as
Rio’s most irreverent street band.
Music and Dance
Incorporated into every aspect of the Rio carnival are dancing and music. The most famous dance is
the samba, an African dance brought over by the slaves. The samba was created by the African
slaves mixing with the choros, street bands, of Brazil. The samba remains a popular dance not only in
carnival but in the ghetto villages outside of the main cities. These villages keep alive the historical
aspect of the dance without the influence of the western cultures. Other dances include the lundu, the
polka, and the maxixe.
The samba is the main dance of Rio Carnival but it is not performed in silence. Music is another
major aspect of all parts of carnival. As stated by Samba City, “Samba Carnival Instruments are an
important part of Brazil and the Rio de Janeiro Carnevale, sending out the irresistible beats and
rhythms making the crowd explode in a colourful dance revolution fantasy fest!” The samba that is
found in Rio is batucada, referring to the dance and music being based on percussion instruments. It
“is born of a rhythmic necessity that it allows you to sing, to dance, and to parade at the same time.”
This is why the batucada style is found in most all of Rio’s street carnivals.
Some of the important roles include the porta-bandeira and mestre-sala. The porta-bandeira is a very
important lady who is in charge of the samba school flag, including making sure to not allow the flag
to roll. She is accompanied by the mestre-sala, who is supposed to draw everyone’s attention to ‘his
queen,’ the port-bandeira. Floatees, who are also important, are the people who populate the floats,
also known as destaques. The floatees have the most luxurious and expensive costumes that can be
extremely heavy. Along with all the floatees is one main floatee that is located at the top of each float.
The main destaque dances and sings for the entire time that the float is on the runway.
Balls
Besides the magnificent carnival parade, there are wonderful balls. Balls of every kind can be found in
Rio including gala balls, balls for singles, and gay balls. The gala balls are the only luxury balls that
are still around that can be enjoyed at the Copacabana Palace. Many different people attend the gala
balls such as local socialites, soccer players, models, and international stars. The gala balls are a
luxury event which requires black tie or fancy costumes. Besides the fancy gala balls are more casual
and specific balls including the balls for singles and gays. Balls for singles are found at Copacabana
Beach and a club called Scala. Gay balls are found at the Gala Gay at Scala and are open to
everyone, especially for those with alternative lifestyles.
Street Carnival
As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana
Palace and beach, many of the carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very
common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals. Elegance and extravagance are
usually left behind, but music and dancing are still extremely common. Anyone is allowed to
participate in the street festivals. Bandas and bondos are very familiar with the street carnival
especially because it takes nothing to join in on the fun expect to jump in. One of the most well known
bandas of Rio is Banda de Ipanema. Banda de Ipanema was first created in 1965 and is known as
Rio’s most irreverent street band.
Music and Dance
Incorporated into every aspect of the Rio carnival are dancing and music. The most famous dance is
the samba, an African dance brought over by the slaves. The samba was created by the African
slaves mixing with the choros, street bands, of Brazil. The samba remains a popular dance not only in
carnival but in the ghetto villages outside of the main cities. These villages keep alive the historical
aspect of the dance without the influence of the western cultures. Other dances include the lundu, the
polka, and the maxixe.
The samba is the main dance of Rio Carnival but it is not performed in silence. Music is another
major aspect of all parts of carnival. As stated by Samba City, “Samba Carnival Instruments are an
important part of Brazil and the Rio de Janeiro Carnevale, sending out the irresistible beats and
rhythms making the crowd explode in a colourful dance revolution fantasy fest!” The samba that is
found in Rio is batucada, referring to the dance and music being based on percussion instruments. It
“is born of a rhythmic necessity that it allows you to sing, to dance, and to parade at the same time.”
This is why the batucada style is found in most all of Rio’s street carnivals.
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