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Watch Carnaval in Salvador…. Live!

Jan 24 2012

For those who don’t know, one of the biggest Carnaval celebrations in the world is in Salvador, Bahia, in the northeast of Brazil. We posted last year about watching Carnaval Online, and I think it’s only fair we give you a heads up this year too!

Plus, this year you have more than just YouTube, you get to watch via Google+ Hangouts (link starts working at 8 PM Brasília time on Tuesday, Jan. 24th) where you can practice your Portuguese and ask artists questions about their performances!

Tomorrow, Jan. 25th, you can start by watching an Asa de Águia show live from Salvador as things start to heat up for Carnaval 2012!

What are your plans for Carnaval? Is anyone going to be in Brazil? If so, where are you headed?

Halloween in Brazil

Posted by Rachel No Comments

Oct 27 2011

While Halloween is not a Brazilian holiday, it has gained more popularity in Brazil in recent years. Also known as Dia das Bruxas (Day of the Witches), some people hold parties where guests go wearing fantasias (costumes) or máscaras(masks). It’s not a very common holiday to celebrate, but some people dress up or decorate. Here’s a little video about Halloween crafts and how to decorate for Halloween.

However, because of the influence of Halloween, a new holiday emerged. In order to celebrate Brazilian culture, October 31st was named Dia do Saci, to honor one of Brazil’s folklore legends. Here’s a little children’s video about Saci.

Though it’s not a Halloween tradition, Brazil has its own genre of horror movies. One of the best known directors is José Mojica Marins, known as Zé do Caixão. He was recently profiled in The New York Times. Here’s an interesting video about the director in Portuguese.

Holy Week in Brazil

Posted by polyana No Comments

Apr 18 2011

Holy Week, Semana Santa, for Christians all over the world, started yesterday. The Brazilian Catholic population celebrates Semana Santa like most other countries, but a few special plays around the country makes the Brazilian celebrations unique -

Procissão do Fogaréu em Goiás Velho

This procession is held on Holy Thursday, and is mostly famous in Goiás Velho, in the state of Goiás, especially for its reenactment of Christ’s arrest, and farricocos, men in robes carrying torches (instead of soldiers). Here’s a video from the celebration a couple of years ago.

Paixão de Cristo em Nova Jerusalém

All week during Holy Week, there is a reenactment of the Passion of Christ (Paixão de Cristo) in Nova Jerusalém, an open air theater town, in Brejo da Madre de Deus, in the state of Pernambuco. It’s known to be the largest open air theater in the world, taking up 38 square miles and nine sets, overall.

Starting off small in the 1950s, the plays have grown to having 50 actors, 500 extras, and 8,000 spectators for each performance. Below is a short clip from Nova Jerusalem -

There are many other plays all over the country, including smaller ones in small rural churches, as well as numerous other celebrations and traditions. Yet I feel the play or reenactment culture is alive in Brazil during Holy Week for Catholics and non-Catholics alike because of its theater going nature.

Rio De Janeiro Samba Schools

Posted by Rachel 2 Comments

Mar 6 2011

Já é Carnaval! Recently, we learned about Carnival in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and we’ve learned about Carnival in Rio and Recife before. Today begins Rio de Janeiro’s samba school competition, when the city’s top twelve schools compete against each other at the Sambodrome. A samba school is a group that develops original songs, dances, costumes, and floats each year to compete for the title of best school.

During the competition, samba schools are judged based on a number of factors, including costumes, floats, dancers, and staying within the allotted period of time. They are given points from a panel of judges, which determine if they stay in the Special Group the following year. This year, the twelve qualifying samba schools are São Clemente, Imperatriz Leopoldinense, Portela, Unidos da Tijuca, Vila Isabel, Mangueira, União da Ilha, Salgueiro, Mocidade, Grande Rio, Porto da Pedra, and Beija-Flor. Last year, Unidos da Tijuca won, for the first time since 1936. Every year, the lowest two scoring schools get moved down to the lower classified group of samba schools, and the two highest scoring schools in the lower group get moved up to the “Special” group to compete with the top schools. Each year, the samba school picks a different theme, which can be pretty much anything: a city, a country, a time period, movies, famous people, you name it. You can see what the themes are for each group this year clicking here.

To preview and listen to some of the samba school’s samba-enredos (samba songs) for this year, take a look below:

Magueira

Beija-Flor

Salgueiro

Want to watch the Carnival parade? You can watch live on Globo online. Check G1′s Carnaval 2011 page tonight and tomorrow night to watch live.

Carnaval 2011 Countdown: Folia in Minas Gerais

Posted by polyana 2 Comments

Feb 28 2011

The most famous Carnaval celebrations in Minas Gerais are usually in the historic towns of Ouro Preto, Diamantina & Mariana. However, there are many other parade and parties in numerous small towns around the state. These are usually called, Carnaval de Rua, where there are parades called blocos carnavalescos and sometimes stages set in the middle of the street and crowds of Carnaval goers make it to the streets in costume, abadás, or just regular street clothes. The important thing is, there is lots of dancing… and drinking, for the most part.

Many say Caranaval in Minas Gerais, is almost a mix of Bahia’s Axé music & Rio de Janeiro’s brass and drum bands, so if you are the type of person who likes “a little bit of everything,” don’t mind being away from the beach on Carnaval, and don’t want to spend as much as you would for a parade in Salvador, Minas is a great destination for Carnaval!

Here’s a video with a little bit of what one of the blocos in Ouro Preto has to offer (not the techno music while really, there are Axé bands playing!). Since there are a few colleges there, you’ll see there are a lot of college students at the Carnaval celebration there!

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