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Rio Carnaval 2008
| Special Rio de Janeiro Carnaval 2008 Report |
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by Carnaval.com reporter C.M. Collins |
This is the greatest show on earth. It is better therapy than therapy. Many come to get their groove and let the rhythms melt them into the movement. Life here is larger than life, and you can best know this through celebration. There is no greater annual celebration than Carnaval, and Rio de Janeiro is the Carnaval to which all others compare themselves.
This is the time we review those who took their moment to strut their stuff on a global stage before getting lost in a kind of collective ecstasy while the carnival got fever-hot. There were more epic bacchanalian bashes than anyone could remember or forget. More people came to town and more people left town than ever before. The weather reports, with the exception of a very wet Carnaval Sunday, made all feel blessed when the sky was so blue. There were also some whose achievements hereabouts which should be celebrated and remembered in this collective endeavor of being all you can be in the moment.
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| Rio
de Janeiro, The school of samba Beija-Flor (hummingbird)
of Nilopolis won at Rio de Janeiro Carnival with 399.3 possible
points of 400 on
the Marques de Sapucai Avenue,
or Sambodromo. Since they also won in
2007, this represents the eleventh occasion of being winner at
Rio de Janeiro Carnaval, taking five titles in the last six
years. The group's headquarters in the Nilopolis suburb of Rio de Janeiro burst with joy when the result was known. Beija-Flor closed out the largest Carnival in the world early in the morning of February 5, 2008 with the history of the city of Macapa, capital of the Brazilian State of Amapa, located near the opening of the Amazon river. Macapa: solar equinox, fantastic trip; included a magnificent incandescent allegory with a red giant hummingbird flapping its wings above 50 smaller diverse and beautiful forms of creatures. The large samba school needed almost its full 80 minutes to cover the 800-metre parade route before the crowd of 80,000 and millions more watching on TV. Fire on the water: Other floats and music groups simulated fish and foam and represented the encounter of the Amazon River and the deepest darkest jungle on the planet, where adventure is the only certainty. Here on the Marques de Sapucai the joy is tempered by the knowledge that the 40 Sambadromo judges are closely evaluating your presentation. On Ash Wednesday, the main event is no longer the priest placing ashes on your forehead but hearing the verdict of judges. Four of the 40 judges grade each samba group in 10 categories, ranging from their floats and costumes to how well they move thousands of dancers through the half-mile Sambadrome stadium parade ground. "They tried to stain our title last year. Our club does not need to do anything irregular to win a Carnival," said Laila, the Beija-Flor director who goes by one name. Beija Flor's reputation has been marred by accusations that directors conspired to steal last year's championship by intimidating judges. An investigation by a municipal parliamentary commission of inquiry, or CPI, into the accusations yielded an inconclusive report.
Proving it on the streets is an ancient Carnaval tradition, and jeers gave way to applause as the group impressed the population of Rio de Janeiro crowd with not only its usual opulent floats, ornate costumes, and scantily clad radiant beauty queens which all the top schools have, but also with the most enthusiastic and well-choreographed costumed singers and dancers anyone could remember. Carnaval is as much a feeling as anything, and feelings are communicable. The strategy worked, as the talk among the locals or Cariocas in the days that followed was more about how Beija-Flor has an extra Carnaval gear than anyting else. Salgueiro came forward with the most entertaining and witty show, and took second place (398); third place was Grande Rio (396.9), whose floats portraying the primeval world of the jungle as far back as dinosaurs will long be remembered. The rest of the winners were Portela (396.8), Tijuca (396.5), Imperatriz (396.5), Vidadouro (396), Mocidade (395.1), Vila Isabel (394.6) and Mangueira (393.9). Samba schools are beginning to think more globally, as a float by 2008 award school finisher, Portela, drew raucous cheers from the crowds as it displayed a float with a giant model of a starving baby, representing man's tendency to squander the gifts of nature.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Cesar Maia; The Mayor later called for samba schools to adopt 2009 themes honoring France. The Empire Serrano, returning to join the other 11 Special Schools of Samba in 2009, is beginning to examine this plot for the next year. The Rio Mayor announced City Council financial support of the theme "The France in Brazil" for the first schools to parade in the epic show on Carnaval Sunday and Monday in 2009. "First, it was the year of Brazil in France (in 2005). Now, it will be the opposite," he said. For the firs time, France will host the 28th Carnival City Congress in the City of Ploerme in May 2008. France's role in elevating beauty as a cultural organizing principle and particularly as a dominant Carnaval aesthetic throughout the world has been particularly powerful in the evolution of Rio de Janeiro's Carnaval as the world's best. Two schools who accepted the similar proposal honoring the 200th year of the Portuguese monarchy in Brazil in 2008 did not fare so well, with Mocidade, despite being critically acclaimed, finishing 8th and Sao Clemente being demoted to the Access League after finishing 12th. Mocidade showed an impressive float which carried 1,500 litres of water, decorated with thousands of shells and sculptured half-naked women, to represent one of the legends about Don Sebastian, a Portuguese king of the 12th century. According to the legend, the monarch - who dreamed of turning Portugal into the fifth universal empire - disappeared in Africa to see his kingdom re-emerge 'magically' on Brazilian soil. However, the group Imperatriz Leopoldinense, the winner of four editions of the Rio Carnival, displaying little flesh in extravagant costume designs by longtime Carnavalesco Rosa Magalhaes remembered the Brazilian trip of the Portuguese court. One float represented the 'real movements' of an 11-metre-long whale, symbolizing the arrival of King Joao VI on Brazilian territory.
BLOCOS:
the Success of the Street Carnival brings crowds issues
Mayor Cesar Maia called Rio's Carnival "Earth's biggest party" and said the festival was growing bigger and more spontaneous every year "Never before have I received so many e-mails
complaining of the number of street parties ... . It means there
are more and more people in the streets, more spectators, more
people Some blocos complain they have become overwhelmed by the huge crowds, who drown out the music and slow down their parades. Some have started keeping the time and location of the parades a secret. Sunday After Carnaval: Meanwhile, one of the best known bandas joined to expand the days of Carnaval to the following weekend by adding a second and final parade to the Sunday after Carnaval. MonoBlocom, with over 150 percussionists, does a Salvador style trio-electrico parade which begins close to 9am at Arapodor Point and parades up Copacabana's Avenida Atlântica to just before the famous Copacabana Hotel. Then, at about 4pm along Impanema Beach on Av. Vieira Souto, the gay Queens of Banda Impanema hold court. This year there was also a bride in a see-through dress, and a swarm of mosquito men who delighted in poking their probiscises in the crowd and police escorts while waving a sign reading: "Free injections -- but only in the backside." |
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"I want, my mania is worth
gold. I Tijuca, bring the art collecting my treasure ",Tijuca
Carnavelesco Luiz Carlos Bruno, speaks of a habit attributed to
mankind since the earliest days of its known existence.
"This award is great because it involves everyone. Who built the school, who worked beside me and the four thousand stars now to do the show," said carnavalesco Luiz Carlos Bruno in Portuguese to RJTV 1 st edition. The school with the most awards was the Mocidade \ best interpreter, Bruno Ribas; best wing of the baianas; best committee of front; better passista, Evandro, and better teacher-room, for Rogerinho Imperatriz won three standards: best samba-plot and best plot evolution, which went to master Marcone, who commanded a battery of the school. The plot speaks of the amount of Marias who crossed the life of Portuguese ruler Dom João VI in the most different degrees of kinship.Salgueiro won two gold standard awards: best costume section or ala which was "Era of the radio" and the coveted best bateria led by Mestre Pulpit: The best school of the Access group according to the Gold standard was the Império Serrano. Here the distinguished committee of Carnaval experts was in accordance with the judges, and Serrano will be joining the Special Group in 2009. The committee in charge of the production elevated the characters Zé Carioca and the Carmen Miranda. Best Bateria Mestre in Grupo A was Átila A
2009 Carnaval Saturday at the Sambadrome
Porto da Pedra
had two personalities receive awards in the
The Niterói
samba
school Acadêmicos do Cubango was
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Unidos da Tijuca
expanding the art form of Rio Carnaval
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| The
Unidos da Tijuca savors its reputation as an innovative and bold
Samba School. Historically the school was the first to use cars
and costume wings in the evolution of the world's greatest
parade. In this first decade of the 21st century, Unidos da
Tijuca, Grand Rio and powerhouse Beija-Flor have been expanding
the artform of Carnaval with innovations which delight the
imagination. In addition, there are the roots of G.R.E.S Unidos da Tijuca as the third oldest Samba School of the Brazil - only Mociadade and Estacio de Sa [successor to Deixa Falar] are older. The founders of Unidos da Tijuca’s wished to defend traditional Brazilian Folklore and also fight the good fight for important causes. The school emerged when 4 Carnival blocos came together on December 31st. of 1931, at 130 Saint Miguel Street in the mountainous chain of Tijuca north of central Rio.
In 2000, the school returned to the special group with a great parade achieving 5th place - its first trip of their many to the Parade of Champions in the 21st century, where the top 6 schools do an encore on the Saturday following Carnaval Tuesday. Unidos da Tijuca has won
considerable acclaim in both the public and the press for
innovation that delights and inspires. Much of the credit has
been given to the designer of the clever floats or carros
alegóricos (allegorical carts or wagons) which appear more often
by far than any other in newspapers all over the world. It is
a rare but highly sought talent to be able to evoke
amazement and surprise in this intensely competitive art form.
Mr. Bruno has brought himself much acclaim and notoriety in the Rio
de Janeiro Carnaval culture, yet the top prize continues to
allude his Samba School. Still, his genius has guaranteed his
school a top place among the elite schools and much respect and
recognition for all the many elements that make up a successful
presentation in the world of samba. Prior to this, Bruno's creativity was subject to review by the Carnaval director Paul Barros, who as the 2008 Carnavalesco for Viradouro created the biggest media sensation since the Catholic Church successfully prevented a condom promotion. [more] The 6th place in 2008 comes with Luis Carlos Bruno as both the Director of the Carnaval and the Carnavalelesco in charge of creative decisions. For 2008, Bruno designed the Carnaval, including the selection of the theme : our tendency to pursue collections of objects and the historical and cultural importance of the collections and collectors. The first
float in 2008 was the the symbol of the school, the peacock, and
it came in style. The gold allegory is 27 meters in length (only
11 of that is the body), eight meters wide and with 86
"We will show in Avenida how the people preserve their memories through collections of objects. It is the information being saved for posterity," explains Luiz Carlos Bruno, As in
previous years, he says he wants to preserve an easy reading of
the plot by the public. The baianas of Borel will
represent cloth dolls. One of the 7 floats will represents
the dreams of girls, including a
dollhouse. "Let's build a real house of dolls, with more than a
hundred people fantasiadas of dolls," said the Carnavelesco. |
components that opened
its fans in the choreography, creating a large tail. It
incorprated, in Bruno's signature style, a body skin made up
of synchronized dancing feathers played by members of the Tijuca
cast. 
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Hitler
banned from Rio Carnaval
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"goose bumps" hits a big bump |
On Sunday night, all the
buzz was over the Rio samba group
 Viradouro, which had a float
featuring naked Holocaust victims and a dancing Hitler.
However, after Jewish leaders took the issue
to court, the float was banned by
a local judge under the penalty
of tens of thousands of dollars in fines. A spokesman said the
federation decided to sue after discovering that the school
planned to have an Adolf Hitler impersonator along with the pile
of "corpses." The group instead paraded with a float (covered
with people wearing gags) devoted to free expression.
Carnavalesco Paul Barros had other ideas put forth to convey his theme of "goose bumps" including 28 people tied upside down to crucifixes and dancers in cockroach costumes. Viradouro said it was designed to remind carnival-goers of past horrors to prevent them from happening again. "This an extremely serious work, and people think we're mocking," Barros said, tears streaming from his eyes as workers dismantled the float. "We're going to speak now of the right to freedom." Rio de Janeiro state Judge Juliana Kalichszteim called the float a "clear trivialization of barbaric events." According to Kalichszteim's decision, the
group would face fines of $113,000 if it ignored her order by
parading with the mannequins and $28,000 for each dancer dressed
as Hitler. Past carnival groups have had to change floats because of the Roman Catholic Church, which doesn't want depictions of the Virgin Mary or Christ. In 2004, the Grande Rio group had to alter a float depicting Adam and Eve having sex and another featuring sexy scenes from Hinduism's Kama Sutra after the Catholic Church sued over the parade advocating condom use. They eventually fired their acclaimed Carnavelesco, João Trinta to cleanly resolve the matter but the floats also ran protesting the censorship. |
| Going Global: Super Bowl, Samba Parade & Gisele | ||||||||||||
 As
the moon waxes so does the date for Carnaval |
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| ... and this year Brazil was globally recognized on the same date for both events. On Sunday February 4th, arguably the world's most celebrated athlete, Tom Brady of the undefeated Boston Patriots led his undefeated [15-0] team against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. His domestic partner, Gisele Bunchen, the top international model and a frequent representative of Brazil was no doubt disappointed his team was upset. In most recent years, she has been found on Carnaval Sunday in Brazil, helping to make the Carnaval the planet's most international event. | ||||||||||||
Queens or Rainhas da
bateria no carnaval 2008:
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"For me, recognition is the biggest reward." |
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Porto da Pedra - featured model and lingerie designer Angela Bismarchi caused a stir, inserting nylon wires into her eyes in order to look more oriental for a parade honoring 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil. Her plastic-surgeon husband, Wagner Moraes, ran wires from the outside corners of her eyes under the skin of her temples to staples in front of her ears. Minutes before the parade Sunday, he'll tighten the wires to elongate her eyes further. "We're all trying to draw the most attention," Bismarchi said. "For me, recognition is the biggest reward." It was the 42nd plastic surgery for Bismarchi, who is seeking to set the world's record for most surgeries, which currently stands at 47. |
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| Bottomless Ban | ||||||||||||
| While most of the top 6
groups appearing in the Parade of Champions had topless dancers,
the judges drew the line at going bottomless, apparently
penalizing perennial special group contender Sao Clemente for
breaking a rule against display of genitalia during its
80-minute parade.
Viviane Castro, 25, a model and dancer, had lost her original "tapasexo" -- a small triangle 1.6-inch patch,of glitter used to cover the most intimate parts of her body. An improvised substitute glued between her legs right before the show also fell off on the parade strip. |
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| Brazil Carnaval 2008 | ||||||||||||
| The government has taken steps to tone down this year's
carnival, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calling on
the public "to have fun responsibly." The sale of alcohol has been banned on federal roads, and nearly 20 million free condoms were being distributed. The northern city of Recife also overcame opposition by the Catholic Church to hand out morning-after pills. [More about the Church & Carnaval in Brazil on our News Page] |
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