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| Carnival 2013 |
Tonight
we attended the “Presentation of Fantasias” at the Tom Maior samba
school, one of many samba schools that perform during the annual
Carnival parade in Brazil every year. These schools train all year long
to perform for those two wonderful days that the entire world knows. Tom
Maior’s theme this year is “Your Passport to Pleasure.”
My
boss, Creso Chaves (CEO and Commercial Direct at Pixel) was once a
volunteer at Tom Maior and his brother, Yves Chaves, currently serves as
the Director of Harmony. We were lucky to be invited to “Presentation
of Fantasias.” This was the first time the 2013 Carnival costumes were
shown to the members of the community. I may have lost count but I
believe that there were approximately 30 costumes showcased – 30
distinct costumes for each of the approximately 80 to 100 parade
segments called “alas.” Tom Maior has approximately 3,000 participants.
Some larger schools in Rio de Janiero have 5,000 – 6,000.
Summary of the night went like this:
Live original samba by the bateria
Musical performance by the puxadores
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| Lead singer singing the theme song of the samba school |
Presentation of fantasias
Dance! Dance! Dance!
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| Yup- that's me trying to Samba. Will doing a search of "how to Samba" help? |
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| Still trying. Maybe biting my lip will help? |
This
is a major event for the samba school and the community. They put on
quite a production: stage, live music, live band, samba, VIP tables, cat
walk, strobe lights, confetti, local Brazilian celebrities, etc.
I found several things to be unique about this particular night. First, coincidentally, CNN aired an episode of Inside Africa exploring the African influences on the samba carnival, which I watched a couple of hours before heading to “Presentation of Fantasias.” Second was the feeling of nostalgia I had at certain points during the early part of the night watching everyone dance so passionately to samba. It made me miss home, not Atlanta or Texas, but Nigeria. To a lesser extent I was reminded of the traditional block parties we have in village during Christmas, New Years, Burial, Weddings or New Yam festivals.
Samba
really is the expression of the Brazilian culture; their cultural
identity. I used to think maybe it was futebol, but now see why as a kid
we called the Brazilian style of futebol, samba, or why the national
team is sometimes referred to as the “samba boys.” Now I can’t wait to
visit Rio de Janiero.
A big hearty thank you to Creso and family for such a great night.
,+Ravi,+Uma,+Elayne+(Creso%27s+wife),+Me+and+Creso.JPG)
| Tathyane (Creso's sister), Ravi, Uma, Elayne (Creso's wife), Me and Creso |
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| Baianas – The ‘mothers’ of the samba school |
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| Porta-bandeira and meste-sala – Female flagholder and male cortsy that display and salute the flag of the samba school |
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| Party Time! Me, Uma, and Ravi |
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