As carnival kicks off this weekend, millions of people are will likely take to the streets and forget Brazil’s political and economic woes for a few days. During the country’s 21 year military dictatorship, however, censorship and intimidation meant carnival and politics were too closely linked for comfort.
Arquivo - Tag: Carnaval
The great illusion
What if they put on Carnaval, and nobody came? A short work of fiction By James Young It was a glorious Saturday morning in Recife. A statue in the form of a multicolored rooster, the Galo da Madrugada, towered over the Duarte Coelho Bridge, streamers hung from the lampposts and on every street corner someone was(…)
The northeast and Brazil’s internal divide
Brazil is divided economically, socially and politically between its two major population centers, the wealthier Southeast and the historically richer Northeast, so much so that prejudice still exists. Far too few appreciate the ways in which the fiercely proud, culturally rich Northeast revels in its uniqueness. by James Young A week after Brazilian football was rocked by the(…)
Carnaval spreads across the land
Carnaval, long concentrated in traditional party centers like Rio, Salvador, and Recife, is taking roots in new cities all over the country. James Young reports from landlocked BH, Brazil’s unglamorous third-largest city, which is learning to put on its own celebrations. By James Young Brazil’s carnaval capitals are well established. There’s frevo music on the steep cobbled(…)
Post-Carnaval – bloco party
Claire Rigby takes us behind the televised spectacle and into the free and fluid world of the street party – Rio’s true Carnaval. Above: The outskirts of a bloco in Leblon, on Tuesday morning. By Claire Rigby From the world-class razzle-dazzle of the sambadrome to the endless, hedonistic celebration that takes place in its streets, Brazil(…)
Pre-Carnaval
Dom Phillips walks us through the joyful insanity of Rio Carnaval costume etiquette, and the pre-celebration celebrations that are often better than the real thing. By Dom Phillips Ambling through the blazing heat and Saturday afternoon crowds on Rio de Janeiro’s SAARA street market, I was getting nowhere in my search for a crucial purchase:(…)
Modern Brazilian politics, as performed by samba dancers
I’m reporting from the Carnival of Recife, in Pernambuco – but more on that later. Before I left São Paulo, I caught a striking take on the samba parade. Former President Lula is in treatment for cancer, so he could not march this year with Gaviões da Fiel, the samba school associated with Corinthians, his(…)
