December 2019 Vol. 52, No. 12

Features

68 SAN JUAN Five notable locals, from an award- winning chef to a hip gallerist, show us their side of San Juan, Puerto Rico

85 WINDY CITY COMEDY Sixty years of laughs at the legendary Second City comedy theater and improv school 116 RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE Brazil’s raucous Parintins Folklore Festival rivals Rio de RUY BARROS Janeiro’s Carnival

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003-008_TOC_v2.indd 3 12/11/2019 10:17 Boi Bumba A DANCE LIKE NO OTHER EACH YEAR, BRAZIL’S SPRAWLING, RAUCOUS PARINTINS FOLKLORE FESTIVAL—WHICH RIVALS RIO’S CARNIVAL IN ENERGY AND RESPLENDENCE—TAKES OVER AN ISLAND ON THE AMAZON RIVER. ITS PASSIONATE PARTICIPANTS BOTH HONOR THEIR CULTURAL PAST AND TACKLE ISSUES FACING THE AMAZON TODAY

Words ANNA JEAN KAISER Photography RUY BARROS XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

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phalanx of percussion- Right: Garantido’s slavery in 1888, many former slaves migrated ists dressed in feathered col- Adriano Paquetá to the Amazon to try their hands at tapping lars and headdresses lines performs the rubber and brought the ox legend with them. Kawahiva ritual up at the stadium gate await- These northeastern migrants made the fic- ing entry into the arena. The tional ox come to life by crafting figurines redA garb marks them as part of the Garantido and costumes out of paper and cloth. They team. Inside, on one end of the bleachers, a would reenact the legend through infor- roaring crowd, all dressed in red, claps in uni- mal performances, song and dance. Over the son. Everyone’s ready for the start of one of years, two teams evolved: the red and white South America’s biggest parties. “That first Garantido and the blue and black Caprichoso. boom of the drums—it’s such a thrill, you can’t “Garantido and Caprichoso started building imagine,” says Euclides Porrotó Filho, a mid- large communities around them, and soon dle-aged percussionist holding an 80-year- they divided the city, literally,” explains Allan old aluminum shaker passed down from his Rodrigues, a communications professor at grandfather. the Federal University of Amazonas who is “I was born into this,” he says. “It means also on the Arts Commission of Garantido. so much to me. Now it’s time to go to war and Anywhere west of the city’s main cathe- show our grit.” Some of his teammates are dral is considered Garantido territory, with crying in anticipation as they ready to com- schools and street signs painted the ox’s tradi- pete against the blue Caprichoso team. The tional red and white. To the east of the cathe- metal doors swing open and the percussion- dral is Caprichoso’s side, where everything is ists march in. blue and black. Outside of the island, loyalties A few minutes later, the drummers are to an ox are generally chosen based on fam- inside the stadium, pounding catchy beats ily preference, or sometimes simply on which under a 50-foot-tall float of a giant swamp ox’s performance “moves you,” according to creature. Suddenly the musicians stop and Rodrigues. Since the rivalry isn’t based on thousands of people in the stands waving ideological differences, just the overwhelm- twinkling lights sing in unison: “I was born to ing belief that one team’s performance is bet- be red! Garantido is my love, hey! Hey!” ter than the others, the fervor is similar to that The reason for this resplendent mayhem is the of die-hard sports fans and always in good fun. Parintins Folklore Festival. Each June, around Amazonians call Parintins, a city of 100,000 people from all over northern Brazil’s 114,000 reachable only by boat or plane, more than two-million-square-mile Amazon the “enchanted island,” and it’s not hard region flock by boat or plane to Parintins, an to see why. Besides the contagious excite- island on the Amazon River, where two teams ment, colonial buildings and plazas compete in a three-night performance, replete face the banks of the vast Amazon River. The with marching bands, dancers, singers, hun- sun is punishing during the day, but once dreds of musicians and extravagant floats that it sets, evenings are balmy and breezy. Street rival those at Rio de Janeiro’s famous Carnival. vendors sell everything from homemade The marathon performances, also referred jewelry and herbal remedies to exotic fruits to as Boi Bumba (beat the bull), are based on and freshly caught fried river fish—but regional folklore and culture, and are scored the most popular items are the loud red or by judges. Though it’s a joyous party, there are blue T-shirts. social messages woven into the towering floats, Each year when the spotlight lands on the cast of characters and elaborate costumes. island, a world away from the metropolises of The inspiration for the festival comes from a Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, it’s a point of colonial-era story of an enslaved couple on a farm: immense regional pride. During the festival, The wife was pregnant and craving tongue from the city’s central district turns into a 24-hour the farm owner’s prized ox. Her husband could party, with performers playing the crowd-pleas- not resist her request and slaughtered the ani- ing “ox music,” ultra-catchy Brazilian folk mal, only to enrage his master, who threatened to songs with influences from country music whip him. Then—depending on the region’s reli- and African percussion. The stadium gious beliefs—some form of divine intervention festivities consist of four main categories resurrected the ox and saved the day. each night: the Amazonian legend, folklore The tale comes from the more arid cat- celebration, typical regional character and tle region in northeast Brazil, where wealthy indigenous ritual. Though only lasting landowners ran vast ranches worked by three nights, locals rehearse and prepare

enslaved people. When Brazil abolished year-round. XXXXXXXX

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“THOUGH IT’S A JOYOUS PARTY, THERE ARE SOCIAL MESSAGES WOVEN INTO THE TOWERING FLOATS, CAST OF CHARACTERS AND

XXXXXXXX ELABORATE COSTUMES.”

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THEIR PRESENTATION BUILDS TO VARIOUS CRESCENDOS OF CHANTS, SONG AND DANCE; THE ENERGY SEEMS WITHOUT END. XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

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THEIR PRESENTATION BUILDS TO VARIOUS CRESCENDOS OF CHANTS, SONG AND DANCE; THE ENERGY SEEMS WITHOUT END. XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

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t’s caprichoso’s turn to take the Above: Caprichoso show, participating in group chants and dances. stage on the second night. Their perfor- perform at the arena. But when their rival is performing, they must mance pays homage to matriarchs of the Previous page: act completely uninterested. Announcer Israel region’s three dominant religions, with a tow- Paulain presents Brenda Carvalho, one of the dancers, ering Virgin Mary float alongside Iemanjá, from the galera wipes tears from her eyes after her perfor- the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the sea, and mance. “The ox means everything to me,” Nhandecy, an indigenous goddess of Mother she says. She’s participated in a local chap- Earth. As with Garantido, their presentation ter of Caprichoso all her life and took a boat builds to various crescendos of chants, song for three days from her home in Macapá in and dance. The energy seems without end. the eastern Amazon to be here. Sleeping in a As the music swells, a vast swath of the hammock on a river ferry was a small price to stands, all dressed in blue, dance in step, fol- pay, she says. “We do it for the love of our ox. lowing the lead of “animators” at the bottom of It’s really gratifying.” the bleachers who display simple choreogra- One of three animators facing the phy. The local government claims it’s one of the Caprichoso galera, Nelson Souza, jumps down largest mass dances in the world. from the platform, sweat dripping down his This section of the stands is face. “We’re the maestros and the galera is our called the galera, or “crew”—nearly orchestra,” he says. “It’s not easy, but it’s an half of the seats are set aside as amazing feeling to see our energy transfer to free, with lines forming for entry 24 “THE OX MEANS them, and the other way around. They stay in hours before the start of the event. line all day and are complete fanatics at night. The resulting galera is judged as a EVERYTHING They are warriors.” part of the performance, based on TO ME. WE DO IT Marta Viranda was among the first in line their “joy, contagious energy, syn- for the first two nights, and plans to do the chronization, grit, evolution and FOR THE LOVE same for the third. In order to maintain her excitement.” They must wear team coveted spot at the front, she leaves the show colors and stand for the entire OF THE OX.” immediately after it finishes and gets back

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in line, spending the night there. “For me it’s worth every moment. This is my great love. I wait all year for this event—what’s 20 hours in line?” she says. “There is no such thing as get- ting tired during the folklore festival!” Though clearly a raucous party, there is an inherent social message to all this joy. “There is no other manifestation this important that celebrates the indigenous so much,” says Rodrigues, pointing out that most of Brazil’s indigenous population lives in the Amazon and surrounding regions. “You have on broad- cast television five hours of programming where the indigenous are protagonists from beginning to end, in a positive way. It’s a huge reinforcement for identity in the region.” The messages within the parade also touch on social issues. One of this year’s songs, “Red Roses,” calls for the end of homophobia and machismo, while honoring both a trans woman and a black woman activist who were murdered in recent years. “The performances have become platforms to discuss a lot of seri- ous issues in society,” explains Rodrigues. With the election of Jair Bolsonaro—the current president whose policies have rolled back environmental protection—the call for conservation at the festival is loud. During his campaign, Bolsonaro promised that if elected, he wouldn’t give “one centimeter more” of land to indigenous people, and soon after his election he likened indigenous peo- Above: Caprichoso’s arciele albuquerque paces ple living on reserves to animals in a zoo. sacred dance backstage, wearing a costume of Since taking office in January, his govern- ceremony performed green and tan beaded strings that by indigenous people ment has attempted to strip the indigenous Left: Caprichoso wrap around her neck, chest and waist, and affairs agency of its authority to allocate lands perform the a massive fanning backpiece of feathers that and has threatened to abolish an indigenous Ox’s Feast sways as she walks. She’s playing the female health care program. Deforestation, often protagonist of Caprichoso’s show, the cun- from illegal mining, logging and ranching, hã-poranga (beautiful woman), a dancer who increased 92 percent in the first eight months represents indigenous women’s beauty, tenac- of 2019 compared to the same period of 2018. ity and role as warriors and guardians. As a response, Caprichoso invited one of Albuquerque is from a small town just Brazil’s most outspoken indigenous activists, down the river and is a descendent of the Davi Kopenawa, to participate in their first Munduruku tribe. Most of the performers night’s performance. Under a ghostly float with are from the island or rehearse with local ox glowing eyes and a feather headdress, chapters in towns throughout the region. “We Kopenawa speaks in the Yanomaman “ I WA I T just did a group prayer,” she says, motioning language, which an emcee translates into to her counterparts preparing themselves Portuguese. ALL YEAR in sequin bras and feathered headdresses. “The indigenous and the whites must Albuquerque has been a part of Caprichoso come together in defense of the rain for- FOR THIS since she was a little girl. It’s her third year as est,” he says. “We must take care of the the cunhã-poranga. Amazon and all our indigenous relatives EVENT— “It is one of my greatest prides to represent in Brazil. No to mining, no to deforesta- WHAT’S 20 not just beauty, but also our culture and our tion, no to pollution in our rivers!” The struggle,” she says. “We’re here with a mes- crowd cheers. HOURS sage. It’s about more than just being items for IN LINE? ” the scoreboard. There’s a big setback in indige- XXXXXXXX nous rights and many politicians are talking

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“WE’RE THE MAESTROS AND THE GALERA IS OUR ORCHESTRA … THEY ARE WARRIORS.” XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

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about taking away hard-earned, well-deserved If You Go benefits. There’s a lot at stake for indigenous Manaus is the closest people in Brazil at this moment, and we can’t jumping-off point to leave this out of our performance.” reach Parintins. You can She stops in front of a fuzzy live broadcast fly American Airlines of her rival’s presentation. The ox’s art direc- and either take a local tor, Ericky Nakanome, seems nervous. “I’m carrier to Parintins, confident in our beauty but things need to or if you are more flow!” he says sternly to the performers in the adventurous, take an room. When the show finally gets underway, 18-hour ferry downriver Albuquerque has a big reveal—she appears with live music and DJs. out of a globe, atop a 20-foot platform with a Most revelers stumble halo of two-foot-long feathers around her and into hammocks fireworks going off in the background. slung inside the ferry Moving her hips to the beat, she’s lowered to around sunrise. the floor. When she lands, Albuquerque runs Accommodations can to the front of the stage, striking warrior poses be found on Booking.com and shooting an imaginary bow and arrow. and Airbnb. Be sure to She dances barefoot and mouths the words book in advance, as this as the hundreds of feathers on her costume small island town fills shake in unison. She then abandons the feath- to the brim and hotel ered backpiece and runs to the galera, drop- rooms are taken months ping to her knees, briefly clasping her hands beforehand. in prayer and then lifting them to the sky Local tour companies while the crowd roars, shaking silver and blue such as Amazon streamers in the air towards her. Destination Tours, The next day it was announced Olímpio Carneiro that the Garantido had won. But by then, Turismo and ATS the Caprichoso were already plotting for Turismo offer customized next year. package deals. Tickets “You are born blue and it’s for life,” for the show can be says Sarah Reis, a Caprichoso drummer. purchased online. “It’s an emotion that you will never feel festivaldeparintins.com.br/ anywhere else.” ingressos/

Top: Marciele Albuquerque performs as the cunhã-poranga Right: Caprichoso perform the Amazon legend Previous page: The Caprichoso galera raises cardboard flower petals

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