A couple of years ago, I was visiting Rio Di Janeiro with a friend, a few
days after Easter and I happened to visit the empty Sambadrome. I was able to soak
in the atmosphere, standing in the centre of the runway with galleries on either
side, imagining how it would have been when the carnival was on.
You will appreciate that a few days before Ash Wednesday, Brazil hosts
one of the most spectacular carnivals in the world, the Samba Parade. To imagine
that a few weeks earlier, this same place was chock-a-block with about a 100,000
people, was a kind of unbelievable. The carnival is the culmination of a year-long
preparation of various samba schools who display their skills and abilities in
dance, choreography and music.
The Samba schools concept is an interesting method of harnessing the
energy of youth in a creative pursuit. I was told that these Samba schools can
have anywhere upwards of 3000 – 4000 young persons. They prepare their act
carefully every year and have several rehearsals. Finally, they are on show at the carnival in
all their splendour. Usually, their whole performance is on a colourful float
which moves along the 700 meter runway on the Sambadrome, and on each day of
the carnival, approximately four samba schools display their performance one
after another in sequence. It’s one of the most colourful performances
anywhere, and most of you might have seen it live on television over the past
few days as well.
The parades are judged on various aspects like creativity, dance, choreography
as well as their timing. The timing is of utmost importance for if
they do not maintain time, each school loses marks… and ultimately the top
honours. So who ensures that all these dancers, drummers, trumpeters and others
adhere to the time?
One would assume that it could be anyone among the artistes, the creative
director, or even the musicians, but the fact could not be farther from the truth.
Consider that the colourful floats have to cover the distance of 700
meters and be out of the Sambadrome within 75 minutes. The floats are
beautifully but heavily decorated and have to be physically put in motion. It’s
not as simple as it sounds, as the floats have to be pulled by men inside it –
trouble is, they cannot see outside due to the heavy decorations. They work in
unison with the music, maintaining time and leave the Sambadrome within the
stipulated time. The success of the whole school depends on the efforts of these
people who do not know what is happening outside, and who are just not visible
to the outside world.
Amidst all the pomp and gaiety, it’s so easy to forget or even ignore the
immense contribution these unseen heroes contribute to the success of this
pageant, but in the middle of all the din, tens of thousands of revellers
cheering, colourful costumes, loud music, singing, dancing… these unseen people
do what they are allocated to do, and ultimately in the success of the Samba
school.
As the carnival comes to a close this year too, we should perhaps pause
and say thank you to those who are unseeen yet important in
making our performances and life better..
