LIFE> Fashion
|
LIFE> Fashion
|
|
Soul of Rio's Carnival in informal street parties
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-23 17:35
Around 4:30, band members began showing up, trumpeters started tooting their horns, drummers began pounding out rhythms and hundreds of people — from young families to elderly women covered in silver glitter and dressed in skimpy bikinis — surrounded the musicians. By 5:00, after playing several traditional Carnival songs to which the crowd lustily sang along, the band began making its way down the street toward Ipanema beach and the party quickly hit a fever pitch that lasted for several hours. Banda de Ipanema, founded in 1965 under the shadow of Brazil's military dictatorship, prides itself on irreverent political satire. Daniel Sbruzzi, a 62-year-old who was well into his suds as the party began, said he dressed up as a female "cousin" of President Barack Obama. "Obama is going to be a revolutionary with no negative sides. Only positive," Sbruzzi said, hiking up his blue hula skirt and righting his long, blond wig. "He is an idol for the world, and I wanted to express how he makes us all feel like we are part of his family." Irane Carneiro, who declined to give her age but appeared to be in her 60s, wore a red miniskirt, a gold tank top, at least four pounds of beads, a feather headdress and a good inch of makeup. She tried to explain the importance of the event, which she has attended since its inception. "If a person loves to be happy, to live life, to leave their problems behind and take to the street with thousands of friends where for a moment everything is wonderful, then they will understand the true face of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival," she said. |
