Brazil
carnival costume: Creativity and color
THE
BEST CARNIVAL IN THE WORLD
Brazilian
carnival costume
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Carnival activities
around Brazil normally take place from the Friday
prior to Ash Wednesday and continue up to and
including Ash Wednesday itself. In some cities
the celebrations will spill over through the
entire week and include the following weekend.
It’s no wonder that such a place gave birth
to carnaval. For the wealthy, carnaval is little
more than a show, experienced in the way that
people who seldom set foot in a church celebrate
Easter. For Brazil’s working poor, however,
carnaval is a celebration of the triumph of human
spirit over one’s circumstances. It has been
called “the greatest show on earth,”
but it’s much more than that. It’s
truly a transformation, where an entire country
is one vast celebration, and participants
commemorate however they choose.
Anyone can go along to the rehearsals and join a
Samba school in the weeks preceding Carnaval.
Each school has a core group of choreographers
and dancers who rehearse all year round. They
open their doors up to the public about a month
beforehand. It is kind of like rent-a-crowd, as
the more people they have dancing with their
school in the parade, the better.
The Brazil carnival costume
Each person has to buy a costume. Example of
Carnival costume: red three quarter length satin
pants, silver sandals, a sequined decorated hat
and a cape-like top with Peruvian pipes attached
to the back... However, the costumes can be more
expensive depending on which school you join.
Within one samba school there are 28 different
groups and about 3,000 or more dancers in all.
Each samba school gets to choose their own theme
each year. They might choose something
historical, something comical or sometimes they
choose to pose a serious issue, as a form of
protest. however,when it was the 500 year
Anniversary of Brazil and all the samba schools
had to create their song, costumes and
choreography around this theme. Each school is
then judged and awarded prizes based on many
criteria including choreography, music, costumes,
floats and even excitement and enthusiasm. The
schools have different grades, and in the earlier
nights of Carnival are the less well known
schools, culminating in the best, most exclusive
schools on the final night.
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