BRAZILIAN GIRLS – CARNAVAL – 2009 – 20/21/22/23
Rio Carnival 2009 starts on Friday, February 20th and ends on Fat Tuesday, February 24th.
Although Carnival (Carnaval in Portuguese) is celebrated in towns and villages throughout Brazil and other Catholic countries, Rio de Janeiro has long been regarded as the Carnival Capital of the World. The Rio Carnaval is not only the biggest Carnival, benchmark against which every other carnival is compared but also one of the most interesting artistic events on the Globe. Pretty much everyone has heard of the Rio Carnaval. Foreign visitors to it alone number around 500,000 every year.
Rio Carnival is a wild 4 day celebration, 40 days before Easter. It officially starts on Saturday and finishes on Fat Tuesday with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday after which one is supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures. Carnival with all its excesses, celebrated as a profane event, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. It usually happens in February, the hottest month in the Southern Hemisphere, when the Rio summer is at its peak.
There are carnival celebrations in virtually every corner of Brazil, the best-known ones taking place in Recife together with the neighboring Olinda (in the Northeast of Brazil) and Salvador. But the biggest and most famous carnival is undoubtedly the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
One of the greatest elements of the Rio Carnaval is that it not only provides entertainment for many people around the world but at the same time it gives also a chance to learn about the true culture of Brazil. Carnival is very important to the Brazilians being their very rich cultural manifestation.
It is a euphoric event where people dance, sing, party and have tons of fun. There are many parties that take place before, during and after Carnival all night and all day. It allows someone’s true heart to come out and have as much fun as possible.
Rio Carnival is the result of months of preparation. People eagerly anticipate the start of each year’s Rio Carnival. It begins with the crowning of the Fat King (King Momo), who is presented with a giant silver and gold key by the city’s mayor.
Samba
Almost all of the music played during Rio Carnival is samba. It is a uniquely Brazilian music originating from Rio and a dance form that was invented by the poor Afro-Brazilians.
The word samba comes from the Angolan world semba referring to a type of ritual music. The word had a variety of meanings to the African slaves brought to Brazil during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It meant to pray or invoke the spirits of the ancestors and the gods of the African Pantheon. As a noun, it could mean a complaint, a cry, or something like “the blues”.
The Samba Schools
The samba schools are vital elements of Rio Carnival. They are social clubs representing a particular neighborhood, usually a working class community of the slums (favelas). They have a samba hall to entertain and practice their samba and a separate production unit to make their costumes and floats for their Rio Carnival Parade.
The samba schools entertain the community through samba nights and create a pageant for the Samba Parade. They have to pick themes, write music and lyrics, make costumes and floats and practice all year around to succeed in the Parade.
Duration : 0:1:7
Carnival in Brazil: Imperatriz (Narrated in English) Part 1 of 2
Samba School: Imperatriz Leopoldinense – February, 2005.
Part 1 of 2.
Three-time winner in a row (in 1999, 2000 and 2001 – ‘coincidently’ in the same years that the School President was heading the Judging Committee) which is the only current record holder challenged by Beija-Flor. Its success is due to its technically excellent performance. The School’s long-time female Carnival Designer, Rosa Magalhães makes idiosyncratic fairy-tale like artistic creations.
The highlight of Brazil Carnival is undoubtedly the Rio Samba Schools Parade, a totally unique event in the world.
The Rio Samba Parade is the review of a fierce competition between the Rio samba schools. The judges and spectators watch the principal parades in the Sambodromo which was especially built for this event.
The Samba Parade is something everybody should experience at least once in their life. The event is broadcast live to several countries.
The Rio Samba Parade is very distinctive from all other street parades held at some other places in the world. It is not a street happening where people move chaotically about as they like, but more of a highly orchestrated show of vast proportions. Every parader has a specific role and place according to his costume in a particular wing, of a particular section of the samba school he/she is parading in support of.
Each year each school chooses a different theme for the Samba Parade. It can be a celebration of a particular period, or, of famous figures of Brazilian history. It may highlight a special event or speak of anything that might move the spirit and imagination; like a special animal, or one of the elements; water or fire, etc. The school has to illustrate the chosen theme through all its work:
• the samba tunes, which are especially written for that year
• the richly decorated floats and costumes of their 3,000 to 5,000 parading members designed by the school’s Carnival Designer (the so called Carnavalesco).
The parade of every school is highly organized and designed. They line up in a unique way to present their pageant.
The costumes are extremely imaginative, colorful, elaborate and detailed. They are truly original, designed and made from scratch each year. They have mirrors, feathers, metallic cloth, silk and sometimes gems or coins. These costumes take months to make. The work starts roughly 8 months in advance.
You may think of the whole event as a tropical opera or rather like several operas happening on one night. It is beautiful to watch and the experience for the paraders themselves is so intense that the memories last for a lifetime.
Duration : 0:9:55
Brazilian Carnival Fun.Carnival do Brazil – Foz do Iguacu – Carnaval 100%
a very good Carnival in Brazil you find also in Foz do Iguazu.The Brazilian Carnaval (Portuguese: Carnaval) is an annual festival in Brazil held 4 days before Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. The carnival, celebrated as a profane event and believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnalia, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a Portuguese festivity called “entrudo”.This tropical paradise is alive with mad passion in every walk of life. Axe (achay)
means energy in Brazil and nowhere else is the heart-pounding,
rhythmic energy more evident… Whether its an impromptu capoeira roda
on a street corner, bursting with music, excitement and the typical Brasilian
lust for life… or the sound of loud raucous laughter between two
acquaintances over ice cold beer in local open sided bars… Brazil-Foz do Iguacu has it all!
Duration : 0:2:4
Carnival in Brazil: Vila Isabel (Narrated in English) Part 1 of 2
Samba School: Vila Isabel – February, 2005.
Part 1 of 2.
Vila Isabel is a very old, traditional school which almost went into oblivion. It lingered in the Access Group for a long time until recently when it re-joined the Special Group in 1995, with an astonishing championship. After that, in 1996, it hired one of the most energetic up-and-coming carnival designers and has scored very high again in the last few years.
The highlight of Brazil Carnival is undoubtedly the Rio Samba Schools Parade, a totally unique event in the world.
The Rio Samba Parade is the review of a fierce competition between the Rio samba schools. The judges and spectators watch the principal parades in the Sambodromo which was especially built for this event.
The Samba Parade is something everybody should experience at least once in their life. The event is broadcast live to several countries.
The Rio Samba Parade is very distinctive from all other street parades held at some other places in the world. It is not a street happening where people move chaotically about as they like, but more of a highly orchestrated show of vast proportions. Every parader has a specific role and place according to his costume in a particular wing, of a particular section of the samba school he/she is parading in support of.
Each year each school chooses a different theme for the Samba Parade. It can be a celebration of a particular period, or, of famous figures of Brazilian history. It may highlight a special event or speak of anything that might move the spirit and imagination; like a special animal, or one of the elements; water or fire, etc. The school has to illustrate the chosen theme through all its work:
• the samba tunes, which are especially written for that year
• the richly decorated floats and costumes of their 3,000 to 5,000 parading members designed by the school’s Carnival Designer (the so called Carnavalesco).
The parade of every school is highly organized and designed. They line up in a unique way to present their pageant.
The costumes are extremely imaginative, colorful, elaborate and detailed. They are truly original, designed and made from scratch each year. They have mirrors, feathers, metallic cloth, silk and sometimes gems or coins. These costumes take months to make. The work starts roughly 8 months in advance.
You may think of the whole event as a tropical opera or rather like several operas happening on one night. It is beautiful to watch and the experience for the paraders themselves is so intense that the memories last for a lifetime.
Duration : 0:10:0
Brazilian Carnaval – Rio de Janeiro
This is a small sample of the Carnaval samba parade in Rio de Janeiro. It covers one out of the 14 parades to happen during two days and flashes of some of the other 13 parades.
NOTE: No arrogant or derogatory remarks, please. They will be promptly removed.
Duration : 0:10:13