The 2009 Rio de Janeiro carnival will certainly be a much tamer affair than the 2008 version. Last year the samba parade was marred in cultural controversy and political provocation1. Actually only the Cariocas, the inhabitants of Rio, were delighted by the ensuing brouhaha. For the tourists from other parts of Brazil or abroad, it was carnival as usual: fun, sweat, booze, girls, samba music and creative extravaganza. They came to Rio to enjoy the unsurpassed show of Latin America and didn’t bother with the ins and outs of carnival culture.
The 2009 carnival will be different in other ways too: It has become one of the casualties of the financial crisis; the samba schools will have to make do without the generosity of their usual corporate sponsors. Even the city of Rio, which over the years had heavily invested in the carnival, has pulled out. Known for his politically-motivated largesse, Hugo Chavez, the president of oil-rich Venezuela has not endowed any samba school this year. He has obviously more pressing financial needs at home. Though money is still flowing to some of the samba schools; the carnival is known as a big-crime money Laundromat. But that is another story.
This year only France has come forward as an official sponsor to celebrate the beginning of the year of “France in Brazil”. One of the major league schools O Grande Rio will march down the sambodrome singing Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. The sambodrome is a purposely built stadium for the samba schools to parade. The French government is leaving nothing to chance. For the occasion, it is flying 32 show girls from the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris. The girls will bring the can can to the sambodrome; they will lift up their skirts and kick high their legs on top of the Gay Paris float.
As in the art world, generous financial contributions are no guarantee of success. Last year was a case in point. The majority of the heavily subsidized samba schools did poorly in the samba school ranking. One was even downgraded to the minor samba league in spite of having been anointed by the mayor of Rio to illustrate the 200-year anniversary of the coming of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil. The school had nonetheless done its homework and had very creatively illustrated this historic landmark. A touch of irreverence didn’t hurt history: the 18th century mad queen of Portugal had been impersonated by another queen, a drag queen of great contemporary repute.
Exception to the rule was in 2006 when Hugo Chavez’ sponsored samba school won first place in the major league competition. The theme of the samba song, known as the enredo praised Latin America in Portoñol, a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese. Portoñol is the third largest spoken language in Latin America after Spanish and Portuguese!
This year the samba schools will have to make do with their own resources and replace excess by ingenuity. Since “necessity is the mother of all inventions” the 2009 carnival brand should outclass that of the previous years. Furthermore, the samba schools won’t be constrained by the often outlandish requirements of the sponsors. The theme of each samba school is sung and illustrated by the 3,500 plus members. The 2009 themes are so diverse that non-Brazilian speakers may need an instruction manual to understand what they are about. The theme of Beija-flor, the 2008 school winner, will focus on water’s role in people’s lives across time; from drinking to bathing. Since it is the year of France, it will pay homage to French perfumes. One of the floats is said to represent the court of the Sun King bathing in perfume to mask body stench. This reference may not be welcome by the French who are still in denial on personal hygiene matters.
The Salgeiro samba school will noisily celebrate the many roles and uses of drums in the world. Another, Porto da Pedra, will honor the future, the space odyssey, the many legends and discoveries. Since Brazil is the country of the future, it will praise the country’s creativity.
Someone has compared Rio carnival to a tropical opera; actually each samba school performs its own grandiose opera. The trademark of Rio carnival is the diversity and creativity of its oversized floats which continue to dazzle the revelers. Large amount of money and imagination go into their construction, special effects and transport mechanism. Each school parades six to eight floats. These robotic machines which have moving parts, atmospheric props (such as snow, smoke, or fire) and scale models can carry more than a hundred of people. The happy few who are selected to stand on a float have limited costume choices: either a heavy elaborate costume or nothing at all except body paint. Total nudity is still banned.
Even if the 2009 parade doesn’t bring controversy, the debate among samba experts will continue. What comes first: the samba music or the artistic creativity? Ideally a samba school should combine a great enredo with a flawless and artistically creative parade. One has to admit that few enredos of late have managed to rouse the public. Many samba traditionalists claim that artistic creativity seeks to compensate for the mediocrity of the song’s lyrics. Having no inspiration, Imperio Serrano samba school has even decided to recycle one of its old popular tunes.
The entertainment will go on; it is an outlet for people and the glue that holds the communities together. Last but not least, economic crisis or not the Rio carnival parade will never be outsourced.
Beatrice Labonne, Rio de Janeiro.
February 12, 2009.
Stop Press !
It seems that no Rio carnival is free from controversy!
The current issue is the size of the dancers'thighs. This Gracyanne has pumped so much iron (she works out 2h per day, a mere 180kgs on her legs...) that her thighs are now bigger than that of famous football player Roberto Carlos. Don't ask me where he plays! The samba girls love these "big thigh look" but others are not so sure. Rio men want less volume and more curves...
This is an important complement to my article on "Special Effects on the Sambodrome" I have already forwarded to you.
A bit of nonsense is good in time of crisis.
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