Hello, my (three) friends! Carnival Parades start tomorrow, and my terrible procrastination means I haven't even started to promote this subreddit! Yay! However, that doesn't mean that I'll not do my job of presenting what'll happen in the São Paulo parades, even if I didn't present the schools before. So, here's a quick sum-up!
Yeah, sing it - Hakuna Matata!
It's a wonderful phrase - Hakuna Matata!
Our passionate community pulsates
Kenyan is the tambourine of Colorado!
Starting the works, we have Colorado do Brás, which's returning to the Special Group (the first tier of the Carnival) after 25 years. They've chosen one of the carnival staples on tributes to Africa, in their case, to Kenya. But they decided to spice it up by talking also about the famous Hakuna Matata song and philosophy. Yeah, that "no worries" thing you learned watching The Lion King. Colorado showed multiple excellent parades in the second tier on the last few years, and they're eager to show the world that they're here to stay.
And Casa Verde is here once more to dazzle the Avenue
Our cast doing a spectacle on your screen
Come on, be too, a character
The great star of the seventh art!
Next, we'll have a delicious show for cinema fans, as Império de Casa Verde has chosen the famous movies as their theme. A school known for their glorious floats, the Tiger has all the tools to make a memorable parade and awake a bit of nostalgia on all of us.
Fun fact: Since "Império" is Portuguese for "Empire", they went the extra mile and named the plot "The Empire Strikes Back". Império, may the Force be with you.
Tambourines will resound, the party will start!
Our percussion has the power of the terreiro!
Mancha Verde is Kizomba, dear!
Hail the Princess! Glory to the black people!
Before anyone asks, a "terreiro" is the place where candomblé and umbanda rituals are practiced. There's not a good translation for it. Anyways, Mancha Verde follows up with their own brand of afro parades. They'll tell the tales of Princess Aqualtune, a rebel Congolese princess that led her reign on a fight against Portugal, and, once defeated and sold as a slave in Brazil, lit the flame of slave revolutions. Surely a powerful name in the struggles of the black race, and after a close call last year, Mancha will fight hard for the title this time.
O Lord, hear our voice...
The prayers that come from the heart...
I know my wounds will dry off
On the day of the liberation...
After being excluded from last year's competition and parading as hors-concours due to an accidental fire in their costume warehouse, Tucuruvi comes back to the competition. They'll talk about the struggle for liberty in the Brazilian story, with passages about the black slaves, the indigenous people that were massacred and the times of military dictatorship here. Their goal may not be the title this time, but since nobody knows how well they would go last time, anything can happen.
I'm Brazilian...
I shall defend my nation...
O beloved, adored motherland
Don't cry for naught...
Coming from a title surely adds pressure on a newbie defending champion. Coming from two tiles may be too much, but that doesn't seem to be a deterrent to Tatuapé. After taking their first two trophies on the last two years, they want to prove once and for all that they're now the best samba school in the São Paulo carnival, and they'll do so by telling the tales of the Brazilian warriors, be them saints like Saint George, rebels like Zumbi dos Palmares, or the Brazilian population in general. While they're not unanimous favorites for the title, nodoby with a grain of sanity would dare underestimate them.
"Samba de Arerê" for your return
The North Side is Madureira
I miss you so much...
Look at the people wanting more!
There's still time to live happily!
Okay, so what the hell is a "Samba de Arerê"? Well, it's a song from the famous samba singer Arlindo Cruz, a huge name of the modern samba. Last year, however, Arlindo had a stroke, effectively knocking him out of what he loves the most just one year before he would turn 60, and thus, X-9 (yes, there's a samba school named X-9) decided to pay a tribute to Arlindo. Through his most famous songs, his story as a composer for Império Serrano and his tales of the Rio slums, X-9 promises to delivery a wonderful parade. And for great news, Arlindo has recovered enough to be authorized by the doctors to go to the parade! There's still time to live happily, indeed!
But, if someday someone asks me
My DNA is red and yellow
And I want to know, who will stop me?
Finishing the first day of parades, the dark horse of the last carnival, Tom Maior, will dive deep on the mysteries and questionings of humanity. What are we? Where do we go? How do things work? Can we invent more than we did? Was the last years' 4th place, the best finish in the history of Tom, a fluke? Or did they grow enough to become a top tier school? Well, there's only one way to know.
Look how ironic it is
From the colony to the monarchy
Nothing here ever changed
There reigned a badly-told story
Since then "republicated" by the hands of a dictator...
Nowadays, there's one kind of parade that's being way more liked than before, and that's social and political critics. Coming back from the second tier after an particularly infamous parade in 2017 (I'll tell this one later), Águia de Ouro is going straight for the kill by making a parade about the greed in the history of Brazil. Nothing here ever changed, but Águia surely wants to change things from last time. And they've added some extremely competent names to their lineup this year, so put faith on the Eagle.
Those who dream will live this victory!
Fighting and win is our root!
Ahead, Dragões! It's your finest hour!
It's time to be happy!
Dragões da Real was getting closer to the title with each passing year, only losing the 2017 carnival on the very last note. However, they tripped last year. Maybe they want to go back in time, because their parade this year will talk about the history and wonders of time. As well as how it's the ruler of the present. Are we slaves of the time?
There's my warring chant, I'm Mocidade!
Red on my blood and my color!
I go through the waters that Tupã blessed...
Amazonas... Amazonas... my love!
After an unusual slump on 2017, Mocidade Alegre lost the 2018 title on the tiebreakers, and they surely want to repeat the performance, only without the "lost" part. For that purpose, they'll go through the famous myth about the creation of the Amazonas river, where the Sun and the Moon were lovers, but could never touch each other, and that made poor Moon cry so much that its tears became one of the biggest rivers in the world. What a tragic tale, but tragedy will not be the end result for Mocidade for sure. They're title candidates, so watch out!
We smile...
"Yes, we can" dream!
Because we do have a future ahead of us...
Clenched fists... the Saracura is present!
Imprevisible and powerful as always, Vai-Vai is one of the oldest samba schools in the São Paulo Carnival. With their almost 90 years of the history, they've followed a lot of the struggles of black people, along with the numerous parades about them, and they're doing their own take on it, presenting the idea of a future where the prejudices and the problems of races do not exist. It's the senpai of the carnival saying that, so let's fight for that!
Gotta' respect my identity
Roseira is happiness!
The hope for a new tomorrow...
Viva, Hayastan!
In today's episode of "Around the World in 80 Parades": Rosas de Ouro! In a time of instability, where the school can both shoot for the top 5 or go into terrible slumps, the Roseira, as it's known, is paying a tribute to the country of Hayastan. Never heard of it? Then let's call it by the name in English: Armenia. Focusing on the recovery of the country after the Armenian Genocide and on the immigrating community from the country that went to Brazil after said event, Rosas hopes to return to their golden times while still giving Armenians the recognition they deserve.
Empire of the Sun atop of the Andes
Where the tears of the sky created a spring
Where the life flows from the waters
Glory to the Peruvian nation!
Don't leave the plane yet! Our voyage around the world is still going, because Vila Maria will take us to Peru. The historic country of the Incas, known for its lovely culture and culinary, is an amazing theme for a parade, and for Vila Maria, that's known for talking a lot of countries, making a beautiful homage for the Peruvians will not be hard for them. So, expect them to absolutely NAIL this one.
It's a rare pleasure
A flavor of emotion
But don't overdo it
As it's bad for your heart...
Finally, we'll have Gaviões da Fiel, the most famous samba school of São Paulo. They instead opted for reediting (i.e. reusing) one of their old plots, a practice that's rare, but occasionaly used to celebrate marks or because the school feels that it's time to try it again. Specifically, Gaviões is reediting their 1994 parade, "The Saint's Spit and the Serpent's Poison", about tobacco. 25 years before, Gaviões made what was considered their best parade ever at the time, but lost the title due to odd judgment rules. On the present, Gaviões is trying to climb back to their days of glory, and there's no better choice than the one parade that made, for the first time, an statement of how huge the idea of tying samba and football was becoming. To this day, Corinthians' fans still sing the samba at their stadiums, and that means Gaviões will come stronger than they have been in the last few years.
That's it! I'll probably host a watch party for it, but I don't know if the parades will be streamed outside of Brazil. If that doesn't happen, I'll just post the youtube replays.
Thanks everyone!
Submitted March 01, 2019 at 05:20AM by AokiHagane https://ift.tt/2Svk5gU
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