Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/26434
MARDI GRAS FOCUS TEXT +PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER McBRIDE D HALF-NAKED PEOPLES COVERED IN SEQUINS, F [ATHEnS /\[\.]0 i\lOTHff\]G E: LSl l-3UTl r ILIR VIRTUE STARTED SINGING, SHIMMYING AND TWIRLING. THE iNF-ECnOU 8AI\10/\ DlAT UFiCED MY FEET TO DAr'--JCE. CARNIVAL WAS EXPLODING IN FRONT OF ME. "It is the celebration of life!" shouted an onlooker, as a percus- sion section consisting of over 400 drummers ignited the joyful, quick- stepping samba that defines Rio de Janeiro's pre-Lent Carnival. It is quipped that Brazil's beliefs can be summed up in three words: samba, sex and soccer. But Carnival abbreviates it to two: samba and sex. In Rio, percussion anchors samba, so when the most popular samba de escola (samba school) in the city, Mangueira, ignited their drum- ming section (referred to as the bateria), the three-night Carnival parade that goes until 6 AM, was officially underway. This heart-pounding bateria also erupted some 5,000 tanned, costumed bodies into lightening quick samba moves as a city of spectat0rs exploded in ecstatic cheers. The powerful music drowned out any mundane concerns of everyday life. Even my thoughts of a sunga-which had preoc- cupied me previously-vanished. In Yanqui, sunga roughly translates as "speedo." It is a sparse Brazilian-cut bathing suit, casually worn by most Brazilian men. When I first heard of the feathered Indian costume I would need to wear in order to dance with Portela-one of the 14 top samba schools in Rio-I had no idea I would be required to don this piece of Brazilian leisurewear. I became slightly skeptical of the costume's feather skirt when my Brazilian friend asked for my butt size, not my waist size. I passed it off as a simple language mistake, but my friend's English was perfect. I was just ignorant about Carnival-a five-day festival that originated in the early 1900s and today permeates every part of Rio. During Carnival, the sensuality of Rio's multi-racial society thrives as the festival culminates at the Samb6dromo-a half-mile-Iong street that becomes the parade route where the heart of Rio's Carnival thumps and the world's impressions of the event are created. Samba schools are judged on dancing, theme, evolution and song. Multimillion-dollar samba schools show off the year's efforts in a costumed production, with music and three-story human-powered floats as TV cameras and Brazilian celebrities swarm.