Vai-Vai Carnival Feature, SELAMTA magazine, Ethiopian Airlines

7/23/2019 Vai-Vai Carnival Feature, SELAMTA magazine, Ethiopian Airlines

1/9

!"#$"

$&"'

()*+,-)./!01

2)3.1

456.78

B Y C L A I R E R I G B YPHOTOS BY ANDR KLOTZ

!"#$"

AIDAS

ZUBONKIS

/GETTY

IMAGES

24 .


2/9

Within view of So

Paulos downtownskyline, Vai-Vais exotic

drum-troupe queenleads the masses in

rehearsing for thesamba schools annual

Carnival parade.Nearby, a gatheredcrowd cheers on the

sambistas(sambamusicians) as theypractice onstage.

25/


3/9

At the bottom of a hill in Bixiga, a historic

downtown neighborhood, three men in matching

black-and-white T-shirts are erecting a fence across

an intersection.

Outside the temporary perimeter, street-sellers

arrive with boxes packed with cans of beer and bot-

tles of water wedged between hunks of ice. Grills are

lit and wisps of smoke start to drift across the street.

Welcome to the headquarters and rehearsal

ground of Vai-Vai, an 83-year-old institution devoted

to samba, Carnival and community.

Each year, Brazilians mark the beginning of theChristian Lenten season with a five-day Carnival

festival and a multitude of ornate, highly competitive

parades. Carnival costumes, music and traditions vary

across Brazil, but one thing is certain: Daily routines

come to a halt for the festivals duration.

This particular evening has attracted hundreds

of spectators who mill about the rehearsal ground

buying cans of Brahma beer, fruity caipirinha

cocktails and small skewers of grilled meat rolled

in gritty farofa toasted cassava meal. Over to one

side, children are being lined up to practice their

parade steps. As the drumming starts, the schools

respected elder women, the baianas, begin to swayin time.

95:4 ) ;)*

+,>?5 ,+

!01 2)3.1,+ 7)*.6

@7A*3)*6/

5?7 ;77B

A7C1*7

()*+,-).8

26 .


4/9

Vai-Vais headquar tersin Bixiga ahistoric downtownneighborhood serves as the sambaschools groundsfor everything fromfloat constructionto rehearsals andcommunity gatherings.


5/9

Vai-Vai (meaning Go-Go) is one of hundreds

of so-called samba schools spanning the length

and breadth of Brazil. Known as escolas de samba in

Portuguese, samba schools are community orga-

nizations that run events year-round, often hold-

ing open rehearsals in the run-up to Carnival for

the purpose of both fundraising and community

participation. It all culminates in the immense, spec-

tacular parades that have become the face of BrazilsCarnival and indeed, of Brazil itself worldwide.

Rio de Janeiros Marqus de Sapuca sambad-

rome is Brazils best-known parade ground, where

the annual competitive processions attract thou-

sands of spectators, plus millions more via TV. But

not to be outdone by its rival city 360 kilometers

(224 miles) away, So Paulo has a sambadrome too.

There, over three nights each year, 22 samba schools

14 premier-league schools plus 8 in the second

division compete in a series of highly competitive,

all-singing, all-dancing Carnival parades.

DE9''&F/ @&"'G&F! "HI J "EK"L! J !"#$"Inside the sambadrome, theres no such thing as

less is more. Or to be more precise, too much is

never enough. The gargantuan parade floats are

loaded with paint, glitter and baubles and crowned

by scores of smiling dancers, similarly dressed to

impress (albeit scantily, in some cases). Each schools

parade features as many as 4,000 costumed marchers,

who accompany the collection of lavishly decorated

floats along the long, bleacher-lined avenue.

Fernando Penteado, whose grandparents helped

found Vai-Vai in 1930, is the samba schools director

of harmony, responsible for keeping Vai-Vais por-

tion of the all-night parade running smoothly. Histeams of harmony and discipline monitors patrol

M!)


6/9

Vai-Vais baianas

the schools mostrespected elder women spin their waythrough the avenueduring the first night ofSo Paulos Carnival.Costumed marchers (atleft) also accompanythe schools elaboratefloats as membersof the drum troupekeep the samba beatpumping.

TOPT

OB

OTTOM

NELSONALMEIDA/AFP/GETTYIMAGES,

SEBASTIAOM

OREIRA

/EPA/CORBIS

30 .


7/9

the sidelines, discreetly exhorting the marchers to

keep time, stay in line and above all keep sing-

ing their hearts out.

Samba is of African origin, Penteado explains.

But today, Carnival doesnt belong to the black

community exclusively. Here in Bixiga, [our sambaschool has] people of Italian, Japanese, Portuguese

descent, but they are all preserving African culture.

In each schools parade, flag bearers twirl and

spin along the avenue like lavishly plumed gods and

goddesses; Carnival queens dot the processions like

glittering butterflies; and at the heart of the noisy,

gaudy, riveting spectacle, the samba schools corps of

drummers propels the floats and marchers forward

to the beat of the batucada the tight, powerful

rhythm of the samba.

To the casual observer, this might appear to be

pure, unadulterated celebration. But to the samba

schools, its the culmination of almost a years hard

work of endless planning and rehearsals, and of

hundreds of hours spent creating and decorating

floats and costumes, as carpenters, welders, sculp-

tors and seamstresses come together with dancers,

singers and organizers to make Carnival happen.

Its also an incredibly serious competition in

which winning is everything.

Mrcio Paloschi serves as Vai-Vais artistic direc-

tor. It all comes down to the details, he says.

Hundreds of them. We have to bear in mind the

way the parade will look out there on the avenue,

from up close and from far away and also what

it will look like on television. Carnival is very much

made for TV.This year, Vai-Vai is competing to be crowned

champion for what would be the 15th time in its

history. The schools are judged on everything from

the flag-bearers flourishes to the time-keeping, and

from the overall execution of the chosen theme to

the song (a new song is produced by each school

every year and belted out throughout the procession,

incessantly, by the entire troupe).

The finer points of the scoring system are all

but impossible to understand for outsiders, who

are mostly content to stand in the bleachers and

be dazzled by the kitsch magnificence of the whole

thing, as it rumbles and sambas past.

Whats easier to grasp, once you get a close-up

glimpse, is the sense of community at the heart ofit all.

Bixiga was founded by Italian immigrants and

ex-slaves and is still a stronghold of So Paulos black

community. In fact, Bixigas Afro-Brazilian roots can

be traced back to the 19th century and the Saracura

quilombo a community of fugitive slaves living on

the banks of the now-buried Saracura Creek.

In addition to lively rehearsals, held in the months

leading up to Carnival, Vai-Vai runs neighborhood

activities year-round. These include childrens dance

and drumming classes, adult literacy and English

lessons, and food and milk distribution projects

for those in need. And on Saturday afternoons,

the school hosts family-oriented fundraising feasts

of Brazils most emblematic dish: a rich pork-and-

black-bean stew called feijoada, served with rice.

$9W9D":! '&HXYX! @X'XF&

Down on the rehearsal ground, Vai-Vais Sunday-

night rehearsal is in full swing. In one area, samba

musicians and a powerful singer lead the crowd in

this years song, Sangue da Terra(Blood of the Land)

an homage to the sponsor, Wines of Brazil.

Trying out their samba steps as they move through

the crowd in a tight pack are 30 or so women clad in

tight black dresses and dizzyingly high heels. Some

will dance solo at the head of a wing of marchers

MU),VU), ,4 )A135 41


8/9

32 .

while others will samba on tiny podiums on Vai-Vais

various floats. Although they perspire with the effort

on this hot summer night, they stay smiling with a

queenly benevolence, heads held high.

Theres only one real queen at this rehearsal,

though, and shes the exquisitely beautiful Camila

Silva, Vai-Vais rainha da bateria(drum-troupe queen)

for the past five years. During the parade, the rainhas

job is to lead the massed drummers, responding to

their powerful rhythms and thrilling the crowd with

her smiles, flourishes, and burst of both charm and

virtuoso samba dancing all the more mesmer-

izing given the high heels, glittering costume and

sculpted curves of glowing skin.

Silva is generally agreed to have the most highly

prized quality a rainha can have: samba no p, an

innate, unfaltering sense of samba in her feet. She

presides over the rehearsal regally, sambaing for a

few moments at the head of the drum troupe, then

hanging back on the sidelines, bestowing smiles and

kisses on wide-eyed children or posing for photos

with nonchalant-acting young men.

Silvas husband and the president of Vai-Vai,

Darcy Silva, leans against a podium nearby, watch-

ing the drum troupe and smoking a fat cigar. Besidesthe parade, Silva has a lot on his mind. Hes recently

learned that despite the schools deep roots in Bixiga,

Vai-Vais days in the neighborhood are numbered: Its

headquarters sit right in the path of a much-needed

new line of So Paulos subway system.

Since learning of the potential construction proj-

ect, Vai-Vai members have been combing Bixiga for

alternative locations, as desperate to stay in the neigh-

borhood as many local residents are to keep it there.

Vai-Vais headquarters isnt just any old place,

wrote the So Paulo architect and urban planner

Raquel Rolnik in her influential blog, Habitat. Its an

essential element in the important (and often invis-ible) presence of Afro-Brazilian culture in the city.

We cant imagine ourselves anywhere else, said

Fernando Penteado when the news emerged in

January. If we had to leave Bixiga, it would be like

tearing our heart out.

But the area is heavily built up, like so much of

So Paulo a city whose skyline is a jumble of end-

less high-rises stretching to the horizon and there

are simply no suitable spaces available.

A number of local samba schools have previ-

ously been granted premises by the city government,

which sees them as an essential part of So Paulo

culture. With that in mind, Vai-Vai has set its sightson Luz, another historic neighborhood close by.

The once-grand Luz has fallen on hard times over

the past 20 years or more and is in desperate need

of revitalization. Theres a sense at Vai-Vai that the

school could both solve its imminent problem and

help revive a troubled area.

Vai-Vai is about so much more than just

Carnival, says Darcy Silva. We have big plans to

increase our social projects among needy families

and, given a bit more space, to open up a series of

brand-new cultural projects.

E9DG'!/ ("#&F"/ "('9YH

At the sambadrome on the night of February 8,

Vai-Vais big moment has finally come. The troupe

is primed in the holding area, ready to roll as final

touches are added to the floats. The merendeiros

teams of men who push the motorless floats along

the avenue brace themselves as the floats lights

are switched on, costumes are adjusted and showbiz

smiles are plastered onto everyones faces.

As the school sets out along the 530-meter-long

avenue, Vai-Vais theme unspools with a series of

tableaux straight out of a childrens coloring book: a

Middle-Ages grape harvest, Cleopatras banquet for

Marcus Antonius, and the biblical miracle of waterturned into wine. In the latter section, a float in the

shape of a goblet features white-clad women who

enter on one side and men in wine-colored costumes

who emerge on the other.

For most of the participants, the parade is

everything they have dreamed of, and the schools

members are upbeat after performing. But at the

results ceremony a few nights later, Vai-Vai learns

that it has placed a disappointing seventh out of

the 14 top-tier schools its worst result since 2004.

But Vai-Vais members pick themselves up again,

ready to swing into the preparations and chal-

lenges of next year, including the imminent exitfrom Bixiga. If we have to leave, our goal is to be

installed in our new home in time for the World

Cup, says Darcy Silva, referring to the football

tournament scheduled to kick off in So Paulo in

June 2014.

So who knows: One Sunday night in June next

year, Vai-Vai might just find itself dancing in a new

neighborhood in a brand-new home, sambaing to

the beat as the whistle blows for kick-off inside the

citys new football stadium.

Whatever happens, though, one thing is certain:

Vai-Vai looks set to be around, and at the heart

of So Paulos Carnival culture, for many yearsto come.


9/9

Date post:	17-Feb-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	crigby
View:	228 times
Download:	0 times

Vai-Vai Carnival Feature, SELAMTA magazine, Ethiopian Airlines

Documents