History of Carnival in Brazil: origin and evolution

O Carnival was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese colonizers between the 16th and 17th centuries, initially manifesting itself through the Shrovetide, a popular joke. Over time, Carnival acquired other forms of expression, such as the masked ball. The emergence of carnival societies contributed to the popularization of the festival among the poor.

From the 20th century onwards, the popularization of the festival contributed to the emergence of samba, a musical style very influenced by African culture, and from parade of samba schools, an event that ended up being made official with government support. During this period, Carnival assumed its position of biggest popular party in Brazil.

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Carnival arrived in Brazil through the practice of Shrovetide, a very popular game in Portugal. This practice was established in Brazil, at the turn of the 16th to the 17th century, and was very popular until the century XIX, disappearing from the country in the mid-twentieth century, through the repression that was established against this Just kidding.

Nineteenth century painting representing the realization of the Shrovetide in Rio de Janeiro.[1]

Shrovetide could be carried out in several ways, such as demonstrations of mockerypublic services. The best known form was the wet game, held a few days before Lent and which consisted of a game to get people who passed by on the street wet or dirty. It could be done publicly, but it could also be done privately.

In the wet game, containers were produced that were filled with a certain liquid. This liquid could be flavored, but it could also be smelly, and in this case, the container was filled with water dirty from flour or coffee, for example, and even urine.

In the public sphere, the Shrovetide it was used as a tool of mockery, as people turned against anyone who crossed the streets of towns or cities. As it was a very popular practice, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, this game was seen as a extra income opportunity for some families.

These families were dedicated to the production of containers, which were filled with any type of liquid, to sell them later. The game was so popular that even the Brazilian royal family was adept of the Shrovetide. Despite being popular, Shrovetide did not appeal to most elites in Brazil, so much so that, throughout our history, several decrees against Shroud were issued.

In the 19th century, there was a intense campaign against Shrovetide. As a result of passage from monarchy to republic, of the more consistent performance of the State in actions of gentrification (expulsion of the popular layers of the city ​​centers) and the repression of popular demonstrations, the practice lost strength at the beginning of the century XX.

The press was largely responsible for the development of campaign against Shrovetide in Brazil. While Shrovetide was repressed in the streets, the Empire's elite created Carnival balls in clubs and theaters. At the Shrovetide, there was no music, unlike the balls in the imperial capital, where mainly polkas were played.

The elite of Rio de Janeiro would also create societies, the first of which was the Congress of Carnival Sumities, to parade on the city streets. While Shrovetide was repressed, imperial high society tried to take to the streets.

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Cordons, ranches and marchinhas

Even in the face of obstacles, the popular layers did not give up on their carnival practices. At the end of the 19th century, seeking to adapt to attempts at police disciplining, the cords and ranches. The first included the use of the aesthetics of religious processions with popular manifestations, such as the capoeira and the ze-pereiras, players of large bass drums. Ranchos were processions practiced mainly by people of rural origin.

At carnival marches also emerged in the 19th century, highlighting the figure of Chiquinha Gonzaga, as well as your music “Ô open wings”. Samba only appeared around the 1910s, with the song “Pelo Telephone”, by Donga and Mauro de Almeida, becoming, over time, the legitimate musical representative of Carnival.

Afoxés, frevo and corsos

Afoxé is a musical rhythm created from elements of African culture and which is part of the Brazilian Carnival.[2]

In Bahia, the first afoxes (musical rhythm) emerged at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century with the aim of remembering African cultural traditions. The first afoxés were the “embassy of africa” and the “pandegos from africa”. Around the same period, the frevo started to be practiced in Recife, and the maracatu won the streets of Olinda.

Throughout the 20th century, Carnival became even more popular in Brazil and experienced a diversity of forms of realization, both among the ruling class and among the popular classes. Around the 1910s, the privateers emerged, with the convertible cars of the Carioca elite parading along Avenida Central, now Avenida Rio Branco. This practice lasted until around the 1930s.

Samba & Trio Elétrico Schools

Among the popular classes, the Samba schools, in the 1920s. It is considered that the first samba school it would have been “Deixa Falar”, founded in 1928, which would have given rise to the Estácio de Sá school. Another pioneering samba school was “Vai como Pode”, which is currently known as Portela. The samba schools were the development of cordões and ranchos, and the first dispute between them took place in Rio de Janeiro, in 1932.

At marches they coexisted in notoriety with samba from the 1930s. One of the most famous marchinhas was “the mulatto's hair”, by Lamartine Babo and the Valença Brothers. This decade was known as the marchinha era. The samba schools' parades gained amplitude and were forced to comply with the guidelines of the authoritarianism of the It was Vargas. The school's operating permits appeared in that decade.

In 1950, in the city of Salvador, the electric trio it emerged after Dodô and Osmar used an old truck to put musical instruments in their backs, which they played and amplified through loudspeakers, parading through the city's streets. They were a huge success. However, the name “trio Elétrico” was only used a year later, when Temistócles Aragão was invited by the two.

O electric trio it would know transformation in 1979, when Morais Moreira added the batuque dos afoxés to the composition. New success was given to the electric trios, which started to be adopted in various parts of Brazil.

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The Sambadrome and the parades

The Sambódromo, founded in 1984, is the place where the parades of the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro take place.[3]

Samba schools and carioca carnival became an important commercial activity in the 1960s. Entrepreneurs of the game of animals and other legal business activities began to invest in cultural tradition. The City Hall of Rio de Janeiro started to place bleachers on Avenida Rio Branco and charge a ticket to see the parade. In São Paulo, there was also the development of the parade of samba schools from that period on.

In 1984, the Passarela do Samba, or Sambadrome, under the mandate of the former governor Leonel Brizola. With an architectural design made by Oscar Niemeyer, the building became one of the main symbols of the Brazilian Carnival. The Sambódromo hosts the parades of the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro.

Carnival, in addition to being a Brazilian cultural tradition, became a lucrative business in the tourist and entertainment sector. Millions of tourists come to the country at the time of this festival, and billions of reais are moved in the production and consumption of this cultural commodity.

Currently, the biggest champions of the samba schools parades in Rio de Janeiro are the Portela (22 titles) and the hose (20 titles). In the city of São Paulo, the biggest champions are the Go Go (15 titles) and the Nene de Vila Matilde (11 titles).

Image credits:

[1] commons

[2] Ana Claro Tito and Shutterstock

[3] CP DC Press and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves and Tales dos Santos Pinto
History Teachers

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/carnaval/historia-do-carnaval-no-brasil.htm