Monday: Mangueira

6. The great escola Mangueira, oldest and most famous of the Rio samba escolas, was stunning. I think this is the best parade they have done in years. (They have a new president this year. I note he has also mended the rift with Beth Carvalho, who paraded with her beloved Mangueira for the first time in three years.) Their theme was the music of Brazil -a great theme lending itself to all kinds of costumes illustrating different genres of Brazilian music (manguebeat, samba-reggae, etc.) and famous songs and composers.
Their song was easily the catchiest of the whole Carnaval, and the public was singing it so strongly that Mangueira bateria, band and singers did something I have never heard of before - they fell dead silent for the ENTIRE refrain (eight long 4-count bars) and let the crowd sing the refrain. Then they came back in. I've never heard of a bateria falling so silent for so long and trusting the crowd to carry the song - a huge gamble since they had to rely on the crowd to keep the beat going for all the paraders. And boy did the crowd sing! It was like we all knew that the whole parade was depending on us. It was truly "de arrepiar", as they say - so stirring it gave me goosebumps.
Another goosebumps moment happened when the bateria came marching by IN PRISON - they were all dressed as prisoners (one several strong statements in the parade made about censorship of the arts. Brazil has had a history of censorship of musicians, in the years of the military dictatorship). The bateria guys were all enclosed in a gigantic moving jail. This was accomplished via a line of non-bateria prisoners just inside, holding the cage of the jail and walking it along, and also another line of people outside dressed as guards.

The overall effect was that it looked like the bateria prisoners were struggling to get out while the guards held them in:



...but if you look closely, notice the "guards" and "prisoners" are actually holding the fence up and carrying it along.

The bateria diretores were costumed as very authentically scary-looking guards. It was a stunning sight and somehow very chilling. Like I said, this sight literally gave me goosebumps.

At the end of the parade route, Mangueira did something that really impressed me: when every section of the parade crossed the finish line, they didn't stop parading, like the alas in every other escola. Instead they marched directly over to the furthest, cheapest seats and did a whole performance there, sometimes ten minutes or more of dancing, just for the people in the cheap seats. When they didn't have to (they're not judged after the finish line). Mangueira won my heart right there.
Mangueira got the strongest "E campiao!" shout of the night and the bateria kept playing and playing, after the parades were officially over. And playing and playing and playing... The Mangueira directors and singers and paraders were all leaping up and down, an especially big ball of maybe 50 directors right near us all jumping up and down with their arms around each other - relishing that thrilling moment when the long gate at the end of the runway is wheeled shut behind the last parader, the clock stops in perfect time (1:21 - the time limit is 1:22) and they finally know that their parade had gone PERFECTLY. The bateria kept playing and playing while the sky slowly lightened. They finally stopped...
And, at last, the thousands of disheveled, exhausted paraders, in huge crazy elaborate falling-apart costumes, drifted in all directions. All the costumes were dropping ribbons and feathers and gold filigree all over. Thousands and thousands of people drifting in all directions. "It's all over," said Bruno, a bit sadly. We jumped the fence onto the Sambodromo runway and walked slowly up the runway with all the other thousands of people, kicking aside great clumps of confetti, and litters of fallen rhinestones and miscellaneous costume pieces. Everybody going home. Till next year.