REGIONALISM IN BRAZILIAN

Milton Cunha

Psycologist and Carnavalesco.

59 onsideringonsidering thethe amountamount ofof creativitycreativity shownshown inin SambaSamba (look at this wonderful scenery) will always be an invitation SchoolSchool Parades,Parades, therethere isis nono doubtdoubt thatthat thethe MarquêsMarquês dede made by for the whole world to turn its eyes CSapucaíSapucaí isis ’sBrazil’s largestlargest artisticartistic showcase.showcase. TheThe numbersnumbers to the exuberance of our country. As a runway, the asphalt are powerful: four thousand members per school, each school paints the Brazilian canvas in the form of watercolors. presenting between six and eight gigantic floats, true scenarios But what enchanting watercolors are these, so as to have seduced upon four or more wheels with costumes rich in sequins, beads and both paraders and parade audience throughout so many years? glitter. Seventy five thousand people watch the parades live, with a We can start with the great green palette of the largest considerable audience watching them on TV throughout the world. tropical rainforest of the world, the Amazon. How can It is therefore only fair that the show be a reflex of national one forget the school in its parade Legends euphemism. The schools’ themes portray the geographic and Mysteries of the Amazon? The waters, indigenous grandiosity and beauty of a country of continental dimensions civilizations, feather art, colors of the animals, medicinal flora and specific regions, each with their own folklore, landscapes and beautiful legends such as that of the Tamba-Tajá, of the and characters that serve as an inspiration for the musical and Vitória Régia, of the Jurupari and the creation of the River Sea visual approach that constitutes the strongpoint of the show. that according to the samba and the legend is the product of When Silas de Oliveira1 composed the classic Aquarela the love tears of two stars. Brasileira (Brazilian Watercolors) for the Império Serrano Mysterious Amazon and mysterious carnival, the meanders in the sixties, he blended in one samba subjects of which are similar to those of the igarapés of the great rainforest, that alone could have been the theme of independent parades. small river arms that feed the insides of the jungle. In order to The song’s opening phrase “vejam esta maravilha de cenário” clarify this parallel, let us take a detail of the parade, a passing

1 Samba composer and founder of the Império Serrano samba school.

61 costume, as an example of the flexibility involved. Think of the inspiration for their parades. There are those who see in the design of the carnavalesco (artistic director of a samba school), structure of samba school parades a direct relationship to the of the acquisition of supplies for the confection of the prototype sacred Candomblé rituals, with baianas instead of mães de santo with a team composed of seamstress, hatmaker, ornamenter and and percussionists in place of ogãs. If we consider Carnival to shoemaker. Think of the confection of one hundred costumes in be the legacy of Greek-Roman Dionysian feasts, in Brazil it the studios of the wing presidents throughout , the borrowed the organization and structure of the presentation sale of costumes to the old members of the wing, the advertisement from the terreiro, the candomblé temple compound. to sell to new members, the phone call, the negotiation, the buying I have already produced two parades on the subject: one of the costume. Is it over? Not yet, think of the large bag containing for the União da Ilha do Governador samba school about the the costume crossing the city only to arrive at the concentration French ethnologist and Babalaõ Pierre Fatumbi Verger and area in the established date and time. Whew! This may be the another one for the samba school about the reason why carnival treats the Amazon with such respect. It is Agudás, freed slaves that decided to return to Africa taking possible that we all unconsciously return to this subject because Brazil and its traditions in their hearts. we know that the task of preparing a carnival parade is an arduous The Northeast as a whole recently gave a beautiful one, comparable to that of surviving in the jungle. championship to Estação Primeira de Mangueira with its The charms of the Northern region of Brazil offer vast fishing boats, history, forró (typical Brazilian couples dancing) material for the show’s two main aspects, the musical and the and sertão (arid vegetation). They literally invaded the beauties visual. The Beija Flor samba school from Nilópolis recently won of the region and emerged victorious with a moving parade. the championship with the Grande Taba indigenous legend, in Maranhão, land of Joãozinho Trinta, the greatest carnavalesco which it told us of the Mystical World of Caruanas in the waters of all, has already been the theme of two of his parades: King of of the Patu-Anu. The Caruanas entered the Carnival glossary France in the Haunted Island for Salgueiro and more recently warning us that there is still much to be discovered about this for Grande Rio, The Yellow Parrots in the Enchanted Lands of region of which so much has already been said. The Folkloristic Maranhão. São Luiz, capital of the state, is rich in legends. Among Festival of Boi Bumbá in Parintins, a specific subject within them Nhá Jansa’s chariot of fire is an eternal reference source. The the great Amazonian subject, was responsible for rising the Negro Queen Agotime and her house of Mina once again brought Salgueiro samba school and shaking the audience. Beija Flor and Maranhão a thrilling Carnival moment. I already used the Amazon as a theme in a Beija Flor de Nilópolis Rosa Magalhães and the parade about the life of the botanic painter Margaret Mee, who conquered the championship with the state of Ceará and exchanged her comfortable London life to live with the Yanomâmi its Jegues (donkeys), in which popular culture and erudition Indians and paint bromelias and rare flowers of the rainforest. came together in a historical perspective. We will surely live to see many new approaches, but the The Pantanal with its nearly extinct Jabiru Storks and Viradouro samba school is already preparing the reedition of Blue Macaws served as a theme for Salgueiro in a parade that the beautiful Círio de Nazaré, that speaks of the religiosity of showed the dazzling ecology of the Brazilian Midwest. the population of Belém, the capital of the state of Pará. This is a The exaltation of the beauty of Brazil’s cities and regions in popular feast that celebrates the patron saint Our Lady of Nazaré carnival parades has evolved towards a sponsorship partnership with a typical party of great culinary diversity and fun, as well as a between Governments, Businesses and Samba Schools. We are religious procession. This, by the way, must be another intriguing still discovering the possibilities of this association, as investors aspect for those who try to understand Brazilian carnival: in have great expectations for the parades but are not always Brazil the sacred and the profane walk hand in hand in a party pleased with the final results. This is to be expected, as we are that mixes nudity and modesty under one same roof. dealing with artistic approaches and these are personal: each This subject leads us to , in the Northeastern person has his own. But there is one thing we can be sure of, region of Brazil, where the pantheon of Yorubá-Nagô Gods and that is that Brazil always was and will always be the best is exhaustively used by carnavalescos and composers as theme to be developed by samba schools.

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