The enredos are coming! The enredos are coming!

I only just touched down in Seattle, my long 36-hour journey over at last, and already Carnaval news is chasing me from Brazil. The enredos are coming! Most of the Grupo Especial escolas have been announcing their themes (enredos) for next year's Carnaval, one after the other. They seem to be spacing out their announcement at 1 escola per day so that each escola can get its own flashy press story. Beija-Flor was first, of course!

Terminology alert: Many gringos use the word "enredo" to refer to the song. This is not how the term is used in Brazil. The enredo is the theme. The samba is the song. The song can also be called "samba-enredo", theme song, but it can't be called just "enredo". Example from a Brazilian friend: "I thought Beija-Flor's enredo was unimaginative because so many escolas have done Africa already, but then I heard their samba and I thought it was so beautiful."

It's amazing how quickly it all gets underway again. The enredo announcement is the first step, because the songwriters can't get to work till they know what the theme is. (I expect that many of the melodies are written already; it's really the lyricists who have to wait for the enredo announcement.) In a few weeks each escola will produce a fleshed-out description of the theme, and the songwriters have till about July to come up with a good song. Then the song competition starts.

Enredos for 2008:

Beija-Flor: The Brazilian city of Macapa, which sits directly on the equatorial line; and, by extension, the enredo will feature a journey around the equator of the world. Macapa which will celebrate its 250th anniversary on Feb. 4 next year (which falls during Carnaval). The city of Macapa has the only soccer stadium in the world that has one half in the northern hemisphere and the other half in the southern hemisphere. (They also have a sambodromo that straddles the line!) The city of Macapa is donating an undisclosed amount to Beija-Flor for this theme - estimates put it at an astonishing 7 million reais.

Grande Rio: The natural gas of the Amazon. And fuels in general, and global warming.
(Brazil is probably the world's leader in alternative fuels. Most cars are flex-fuel and can run on gasoline, natural gas, or alcohol; local Brazilians are incredibly knowledgable about alternative fuels and global warming.)

Salgueiro 2008 enredo: Rio de Janeiro, in all its glory. Salgueiro wants to celebrate the positive side of Rio - including Carnaval itself (will they have a mini-Carnaval float on a Carnaval float?)

Vila Isabel 2008 enredo: Trabalhadores - the working class of Brazil.


Bateria changes:
Mestre Jorgao is leaving Imperatriz (I don't know why)

Mestre Celinho is leaving Unidos da Tijuca (reportedly for health reasons)

Mestre Russo and all Mangueira bateria directors (the directors function as assistants to the mestre, section leaders & back-up mestres) have all been ordered to leave the Mangueira bateria temporarily to attend a twice-weekly course administered by the Mangueira president. The bateria will remain without leadership while this occurs. The president explains, rather cryptically: "Mangueira can't have directors without expression. No director should be less famous than the queen of the bateria. The course will enable all directors to have the posture [presence] necessary for the job."

Speculation swirls about whether the great Mestre Atila could be lured to leave Imperio Serrano, now that Imperio is in Grupo A. I have also heard speculation about several other possible mestre swaps, but they're all just rumors.

There are also troca-trocas (exchanges) of mestre-salas, porta-bandeiras, and carnavalescos (overall artistic designer) going on, each story with its own little soap opera, but I haven't been able to keep them all straight!