Carnaval in Rio

Brazil (Rio de Janeiro State)

Carnaval

Carnaval is celebrated in all of Brazil’s cities, but Rio’s is the biggest and most flash. From the Friday before Ash Wednesday to the following Thursday, the city shuts up shop and throws itself into the world’s most famous manifestation of unbridled hedonism. Its greatest quality is that Rio’s Carnaval has never become stale, something to do with its status as the most important celebration on the Brazilian calendar, easily outstripping either Christmas or Easter. In a city riven by poverty, Carnaval represents a moment of freedom and release, when the aspirations of cariocas can be expressed in music and song.

The background

The direct origins of Carnaval in Rio can be traced back to a fifteenth-century tradition of Easter revelry in the Azores that caught on in Portugal and was exported to Brazil. Anarchy reigned in the streets for four days and nights, the festivities often so riotous that they were formally abolished in 1843 – although the street celebrations have remained the most accessible and widely enjoyed feature of Carnaval ever since.

In the mid-nineteenth century, masquerade balls – bailes – were first held by members of the social elite, while processions, with carriages decorated in allegorical themes, also made an appearance, thus marking the ascendancy of the procession over the general street melee. Rio’s masses, who were denied admission to the balls, had their own music – jongo – and they reinforced the tradition of street celebration by organizing in Zé Pereira bands, named after the Portuguese tambor which provided the basic musical beat. The organizational structure behind today’s samba schools (escolas da samba) was partly a legacy of those bands sponsored by migrant Bahian port workers in the 1870s. Theirs was a more disciplined approach to the Carnaval procession: marching to stringed and wind instruments, using costumes and appointing people to co-ordinate different dimensions of the parade.

Music written specifically for Carnaval emerged in the early twentieth century, by composers like Chiquinho Gonzaga, who wrote the first recorded samba piece in 1917 (Pelo Telefone), and Mauro de Almeida e Donga. In the 1930s, radio and records began to spread the music of Rio’s Carnaval, and competition between different samba schools became institutionalized: in 1932 the Estação Primeira Mangueira school won the first prize for its performance in the Carnaval parade. The format has remained virtually unchanged since then, except for the emergence – in the mid-1960s – of the blocos or bandas: street processions by the residents of various bairros, who eschew style, discipline and prizes and give themselves up to the most traditional element of Carnaval – street revelry, of which even the principal Carnaval procession in the Sambódromo is technically a part.

The excellent Web site www.love-rio.com/samba (in English and Portuguese) gives a thorough history of Rio’s Carnaval as well as links (in Portuguese) to most of Rio’s samba schools and many in other parts of Brazil.

The action

Rio’s street celebrations centre around the evening processions that fill Avenida Rio Branco (metrô to Largo do Carioca or Cinelândia). Be prepared for the crowds and beware of pickpockets: even though the revellers are generally high-spirited and good-hearted, it’s as well to keep the little cash you should take in inaccessible places (like your shoes), wear only light clothes and leave your valuables locked up at the hotel.

Most of what’s good takes place down the Avenida Rio Branco. The processions include samba schools (though not the best), Clubes de Frevo, whose loudspeaker-laden floats blast out the frenetic dance music typical of the Recife Carnaval, and the Blocos de Empolgacão, including the Bafo da Onça and Cacique de Ramos clubs, between which exists a tremendous rivalry. There are also rancho bands, a traditional carioca carnival music that predates samba.

Carnaval balls

It’s the Carnaval balls that really signal the start of the celebrations, warm-up sessions in clubs and hotels for rusty revellers, which are quite likely to get out of hand as inhibitions give way to a rampant eroticism. They all start late, normally after 10pm, and the continual samba beat supplied by live bands drives the festivities into the new day. At most of the balls, fantasia (fancy dress) is the order of the day, elaborate costumes brightening the already hectic proceedings – but don’t worry if you haven’t got one; just dress reasonably smartly.

You’ll often have to pay an awful lot to get into these affairs, as some of the more fashionable balls attract the rich and famous. If you’ve got the money and the silly costume, then those worth checking out include the Pão de Açúcar, on the Friday before Carnaval, halfway up the famous landmark – spectacular views, exotic company, but well over $80 a head and a very snobby (tel 021/541-3737 for details). The Hawaiian Ball, hosted by the Rio Yacht Club, opens the season on the Friday of the week before Carnaval: it takes place around the club’s swimming pool, amid lavish decorations, and is popular and expensive (about $60); tickets are available from the Yacht Club, on Avenida Pasteur, a few hundred metres before the Sugar Loaf cable car terminus. The Friday immediately before Carnaval (which doesn’t officially start until Monday) is a big occasion, too, with the Baile de Champagne and the Baile Vermelho e Preto taking place. The latter (the “Red and Black Ball”) has developed a particular reputation as a no-holds-barred affair. Named after the colours of Rio’s favourite football team, Flamengo, it’s a media event with TV cameras scanning the crowds for famous faces – exhibitionism is an inadequate term for the immodest goings-on at the Red and Black celebrations. In Leblon the Monte Libano (tel 021/239-0032 for details) hosts a number of “last days of Rome” festivities – the Baile das Gatas, Baile Fio Dental, even Bum Bum Night – sexually charged exercises all, though safe to attend and reasonable at around $25 a ticket.

There are a number of gay balls, too, which attract an international attendance. The Grande Gala G is an institution, usually held in the Help disco on Copacabana’s Avenida Atlântica. Another is the Baile dos Enxutos, hosted by the Hotel Itália on Praça Tiradentes, Centro.

Over the last few years, the Scala club in Leblon has become an important centre for balls, and has hosted the Baile Vermelho e Preto amongst others. You can confirm venues by phoning the Scala (tel 021/274-9148), or by asking at the box office, Av. Afrânio de Melo Franco 292, Leblon.

Samba schools

The samba schools, each representing a different neighbourhood or social club, are divided into three leagues, each allowing promotion and relegation. Division 1 schools play in the Sambódromo, Division 2 on Avenida Rio Branco and Division 3 on Avenida 28 de Setembro, up in Aldeia Campista, near the Maracanã Stadium.

It all starts in the year preceding Carnaval, as each samba school mobilizes thousands of supporters who will create the various parts of the school’s display. A theme is chosen, music written, costumes created, while the dances are choreographed by the carnavelesco, the school’s director. By December, rehearsals have begun and, in time for Christmas, the sambas are recorded and released to record stores.

The main procession of Division 1 schools – the Desfile – takes place on the Sunday and Monday nights of Carnaval week in the purpose-built Sambódromo, further along the avenue beyond the train station, a concrete structure 1700m long which can accommodate 90,000 spectators. The various samba schools – involving some 50,000 people – take part in a spectacular piece of theatre: no simple parade, but a competition between schools attempting to gain points from their presentation composed of song, story, dress, dance and rhythm. The schools pass through the Passarela da Samba, the Sambódromo’s parade ground, and the judges allocate points according to a number of criteria. Each school must parade for between 85 and 95 minutes, no more and no less. The bateria, the percussion section, has to sustain the cadence that drives the school’s song and dance; the samba enredo is the music, the enredo the accompanying story or lyric. The harmonia refers to the degree of synchronicity between the bateria and the dance by the thousands of passistas (samba dancers); the dancers are conducted by the pastoras, who lead by example. The evolução refers to the quality of the dance, and the choreography is judged on its spontaneity, the skill of the pastoras and the excitement that the display generates. The costumes, too, are judged on their originality; their colours are always the traditional ones adopted by each school. The carros alegóricos (no more than ten metres high and eight wide) are the gigantic, richly decorated floats, which carry some of the Figuras de Destaque (“prominent figures”), amongst them the Porta-Bandeira (“flag bearer”) – a woman who carries the school’s symbol, a potentially big point scorer. The Mestre-Sala is the dance master, also an important symbolic figure, whose ability to sustain the rhythm of his dancers is of paramount importance. The Comissão da Frente, traditionally a school’s “board of directors”, marches at the head of the procession, a role often filled these days by invited TV stars or sports teams. The bulk of the procession behind is formed by the alas, the wings or blocks consisting of hundreds of costumed individuals each linked to a part of the school’s theme.

Traditionally, every school has in addition to parade an Ala das Baianas – hundreds of women dressed in the flowing white costumes typical of Salvador – in remembrance of the debt owed to the Bahian emigrants, who introduced many of the traditions of the Rio Carnaval procession.

The parade of schools starts at 7.30pm, with eight schools parading on each of the two nights, and goes on till noon the following day. Two stands (7 & 9) in the Sambódromo are reserved for foreign visitors and seats cost over $80 per night. Though much more expensive than other areas, they are more comfortable and have good catering facilities. Other sections of the Sambódromo cost from $5 to $30 and the seating options are: the high stands (arquibancadas), lower stands (geral) and the ringside seats (cadeiras de pista) – these last the best, consisting of a table, four chairs and full bar service.

Unless you have a very tough backside you will find sitting through a ten-hour show to be an intolerable test of endurance. Most people don’t turn up until 11pm, by which time the show is well under way and hotting up considerably. Tickets are available principally from Riotur, or through the Banco do Brasil, with offices in most major capital cities. Book well in advance if you can, or try local travel agents, who often have tickets available for a modest commission.

Blocos

In whatever bairro you’re staying there will probably be a bloco or bandas – a small samba school that doesn’t enter an official parade – organized by the local residents; ask in your hotel. These offer a hint of what Carnaval was like before it became regulated and commercialized. Starting in mid-afternoon, they’ll continue well into the small hours, the popular ones accumulating thousands of followers as they wend their way through the neighbourhood. They all have a regular starting point, some have set routes, others wander freely; but they’re easy to follow – there’s always time to have a beer and catch up later.

Some of the best blocos are: the Banda da Glória, which sets off from near the Estação Glória metrô station; the Banda da Ipanema (the first to be formed, in 1965), which gathers behind Praça General Osório in Ipanema; the Banda da Vergonha do Posto 6, starting in Rua Francisco Sá in Copacabana; and the Carmelitas de Santa Teresa which gathers in the bairro of the same name. There are dozens of others, including several in each bairro of the Zona Sul, each providing a mix of music, movement and none-too-serious cross-dressing – a tradition during Carnaval that even the most macho of men indulge in.

Carnaval rehearsals

If you can’t make Carnaval, give the fake shows in the Zona Sul a miss and get a taste of the samba schools at the ensaios (rehearsals) below. They take place at weekends from August to February: phone to confirm times and days. After New Year, Saturday nights are packed solid with tourists and prices triple. Instead, go to one on a mid-week evening or, better still, on Sunday afternoon when there’s no entrance fee and locals predominate.

Most of the schools are in distant bairros, often in, or on the edge of, a favela, but there’s no need to go accompanied by a guide. It’s easy, safe and not too expensive to take a taxi there and back; there are always plenty waiting to take people home. Of the schools, Mangueira is certainly the most famous; it has a devoted following, a great atmosphere and includes children and old people amongst its dancers. The gay-friendly Salgueiros has a more white middle-class following.

Beija-Flor, Rua Pracinha Wallace Paes Leme 1652, Nilopolis (tel 021/791-1353). Founded 1948; blue and white.
Mangueira, Rua Visconde de Niterói 1072, Mangueira (tel 021/567-4637). Founded 1928; green and pink.
Moçidade Independente de Padre Miguel, Rua Cel. Tamarindo 38, Padre Miguel (tel 021/3332-5823). Founded 1952; green and white.
Portela, Rua Clara Nunes 81, Madureira (tel 021/3390-0471). Founded 1923; blue and white.
Salgueiros, Rua Silva Telles 104, Tijuca (tel 021/238-5564). Founded 1953; red and white.

Sambódromo parades

The starting dates for the Sambódromo parades for the next two years are as follows:

11–12 Feb 2002
3–4 March 2003

For more information, go to: Carnaval in Brazil