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"babes, carnaval" from around the world Rainha Bateria babes, mardigras In case you are wondering how the Trini Carnival Babes got here: On the #1 Caribbean Carnival island of Trinidad, the biggest show of the Carnival is called Dimache Gras because it is always Carnival Saturday. Although, Mardi Gras is closely associated with New Orleans, the French were very influential in spreading Carnival throughout the Carribbean. babes, carnival "babes, carnaval, 2009

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Samba Schools

The purpose of carnival is for samba schools to compete with fellow rival schools, it is the climax of the whole carnival festival. Each school chooses a theme to try and portray in their entry. The samba schools work to build the best floats and costumes to represent their themes, and to include the best music they can from their band called the bateria. There are many parts to each schools entry including the six to eight floats and thousands of participants.

There is a special order that every school has to follow with their parade entries. Each school begins with the "comissão de frente", which is the first wing. The "comissão de frente" is made up of ten to fifteen people only, and they are the ones who introduce the school and set the mood. These people have choreographic dances in fancy costumes that usually tell a short story. Following the "comissão de frente" is the first float of the samba school, called "abre-alas".

Some of the important roles include the porta-bandeira and mestre-sala. The porta-bandeira is a very important lady who is in charge of the samba school flag, including making sure to not allow the flag to roll. She is accompanied by the mestre-sala, who is supposed to draw everyone’s attention to "his queen", the porta-bandeira. Floatees, who are also important, are the people who populate the floats, also known as destaques. The floatees have the most luxurious and expensive costumes that can be extremely heavy. Along with all the floatees is one main floatee that is located at the top of each float. The main destaque dances and sings for the entire time that the float is on the runway.

One other aspect that is mandatory is the presence of the ala das baianas. This is a wing of the samba school entry that includes at least 100 females only. These women along with many other people do not ride on the floats as many others do, instead they are passistas, the people who belong to the samba school that do the marching alongside and between the floats

Samba schools are very large groups of performers. financed by respected organizations as well as suspicious ones that work year round in preparation for Carnival. Samba Schools shows in the Sambadrome runs four entire nights and they are part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single school is declared the winner, according to costume, flow, theme, and band music quality and performance . Some samba schools also hold street parties in their neighborhoods, through which they parade along with their followers.

 

Blocos

As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana Palace and beach, many of the carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals. Elegance and extravagance are usually left behind, but music and dancing are still extremely common. Anyone is allowed to participate in the street festivals. Bandas and bondos are very familiar with the street carnival especially because it takes nothing to join in on the fun expect to jump in. One of the most well known bandas of Rio is Banda de Ipanema. Banda de Ipanema was first created in 1965 and is known as Rio’s most irreverent street band.

Bloc parades have become an expressive feature of Rio's Carnival. Today, they are more than 100 and they increase in numbers yearly. Blocos can be formed by small or large groups of revellers with a distinct title that mocks an issue or celebrity and may mention their neighborhood or social status. Before the show, they concentrate in a square, then parade in sections of the city, often near the beach. Some blocos never leave the same street, having a particular place, such as a bar, to attract viewrs. Bloc parades initiate in January, lasting until fat Tuesday.

"Blocos" parade in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico, and in downtown Rio. Organizers often compose their own music theme that are added to the performance and singing of classic "marchinhas" and samba popular songs. "Cordão do bola preta" ("Black Ball Bloc"), that goes through the heart of Rio's historical center, and "Suvaco do Cristo" (Christ's statue armpit), near the Botanical Garden, are some of the most famous groups. Monobloco has become so famous that it plays all year round at parties and small concerts.

 

History

Modern Brazilian Carnival finds its roots in Rio de Janeiro in 1641, when the city's bourgeoisie imported the practice of holding balls and masquerade parties from Paris. It originally mimicked the European form of the festival, later acquiring elements derived from Native American and African cultures.

In the late 19th century, the cordões (literally laces or strings in Portuguese) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant groups that paraded through city avenues performing instruments and dancing. Today they are known as blocos (blocks), consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or specials t-shirts themes and/or logos. Blocos are generally associated with particular neighbourhoods and include both a percussion or music group and an entourage of revellers.

The famous carnival parade has been going on since the 1830s. The parade starts Sunday evening and continues into early morning Monday of the celebration. Until 1984, when it was moved to Av. Presidente Vargas, the parade took place at Praca Onze. In 1984 the parade finally found its permanent home, the Sambadrome. The Sambadrome is a large structure that was built in the downtown area, which includes several buildings that make a circular open area in the middle. In the off season, the buildings of the Sambadrome are used as classrooms for the local public schools.