Brazilians party as Carnival gets going
Source: Agencies |
March 8, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
STRUTTING in a rainbow of glittering colors, Rio's samba groups opened two days of Carnival parades with a dazzling show that included a rousing welcome for one of the elite bands that lost most of their elaborate costumes and floats in a fire last month.
The Portela group made a dramatic entrance into the throbbing Sambadrome stadium late on Sunday, its 300-strong percussion section abruptly quieting its thundering drums and crouching down in a moment of silence for its losses in the fire.
With silence descending over the crowd for a few seconds, the drummers leaped back up with a raucous beat as Portela's thousands of members marched on to the cheers and applause of fans.
"Our community looks beautiful tonight," Portela president Nilo Figueredo said. "It is really a community of warriors."
The fire in early February ripped through warehouses where Portela and two other elite samba groups were preparing for Carnival, incinerating more than 8,000 feather and glitter costumes and many of the big, meticulously decorated floats designed to dazzle spectators.
Portela had 3,255 outfits destroyed or severely damaged. Many wondered whether the group, which has not missed a parade in its 84-year history, would be able to put on a show at all. The two nights of lavish parades that began Sunday are watched by millions in Brazil and abroad.
Once the shock passed, however, it became clear the 2011 Carnival would be marked more than ever by the festival's quintessential ability to bring hope and happiness, even if fleeting, to those who have little. It also steeled samba group members' fierce allegiances in a city where fans are as devoted to their groups as they are to their soccer teams.
"We're ready and we're strong - no one is sitting here sad, thinking of what we lost," one member, Maria Alice Alves, clad in a metallic silver and blue outfit, said before Portela marched in.
Some longtime members admitted to being a bit anxious about making an entrance that could be marred by what was lost in the fire.
"Our objective is always perfection," said Alessandro Meireles, a 30-year-old who has been a member of Portela's percussion section for a decade. "Even if we can't win, we're going to put on the show people expect of us."
The Portela group made a dramatic entrance into the throbbing Sambadrome stadium late on Sunday, its 300-strong percussion section abruptly quieting its thundering drums and crouching down in a moment of silence for its losses in the fire.
With silence descending over the crowd for a few seconds, the drummers leaped back up with a raucous beat as Portela's thousands of members marched on to the cheers and applause of fans.
"Our community looks beautiful tonight," Portela president Nilo Figueredo said. "It is really a community of warriors."
The fire in early February ripped through warehouses where Portela and two other elite samba groups were preparing for Carnival, incinerating more than 8,000 feather and glitter costumes and many of the big, meticulously decorated floats designed to dazzle spectators.
Portela had 3,255 outfits destroyed or severely damaged. Many wondered whether the group, which has not missed a parade in its 84-year history, would be able to put on a show at all. The two nights of lavish parades that began Sunday are watched by millions in Brazil and abroad.
Once the shock passed, however, it became clear the 2011 Carnival would be marked more than ever by the festival's quintessential ability to bring hope and happiness, even if fleeting, to those who have little. It also steeled samba group members' fierce allegiances in a city where fans are as devoted to their groups as they are to their soccer teams.
"We're ready and we're strong - no one is sitting here sad, thinking of what we lost," one member, Maria Alice Alves, clad in a metallic silver and blue outfit, said before Portela marched in.
Some longtime members admitted to being a bit anxious about making an entrance that could be marred by what was lost in the fire.
"Our objective is always perfection," said Alessandro Meireles, a 30-year-old who has been a member of Portela's percussion section for a decade. "Even if we can't win, we're going to put on the show people expect of us."
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