One night last month, I stood in a grandstand at Rio de Janeiro’s samba stadium and experienced what has been called “the world’s biggest show”. It is almost unreal when 20 meter high carriages filled with decorations and dancing people drive by. Wave after wave of dancers in ever-changing costumes pass in front of me in a parade that lasts all night. And none of the 80,000 spectators think about sleeping. The Rio de Janeiro Carnival is the most famous, but the tradition is alive all over the world. And it was European colonial powers that brought the carnival to America. A night at the samba stadium in Rio provides great experiences. Photo: Arnt Stefansen / NRK Party for the upper class In Brazil, the custom from Portugal was taken up with entrudo, an uninhibited street party where people threw water and mud on each other. The first official carnival was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1840. It was a masked ball modeled after Venice and Nice, where people swung after the contemporary European fashion dances, waltz and polka. But this was a carnival for the white upper class. The carnival nevertheless aroused great enthusiasm even among the poor. This was especially true of freed slaves, who held their own feasts, inspired by African rhythms and rituals. Within a few decades, the tradition had spread throughout the so-called “new world,” from Argentina to North America. And it was the descendants of the slaves from Africa who gave the carnival in this part of the world its most distinctive character. Aunt Ciata is an important person in Rio’s carnival history. Photo: Wiki Commons The first samba In Rio de Janeiro, an environment called “Little Africa” arose more than a hundred years ago. It was led by a charismatic, black woman named Tia Ciata – “Aunt Ciata”. She was from the Bahia region of northeastern Brazil, and led religious rituals of African descent. Around these rituals, a new type of music emerged that was to become known worldwide: Samba. In 1916, the first official samba was written – in Aunt Ciata’s house in Rio de Janeiro. With samba music, the carnival in Rio got its own, original voice, and in 1929 a samba school participated in the celebration for the first time. This laid the foundation for a development that has made Rio the world’s number one carnival capital. “Farewell to the carnal” What does the word carnival really mean? Many see a clear connection to the late Latin expression carne vale, which can be translated as “goodbye to the flesh”. In most places in the world, carnival is celebrated in the days before the traditional Catholic Lent, which starts 40 weekdays before Easter. This is a reminder that Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before he began to work among the people. The carnival is a “goodbye to the carnal” before Lent begins. Photo: Silvia Izquierdo / AP The last day of the carnival is the so-called Fat Tuesday. Then the party and the excesses reach their climax. One last gluttony in alcohol, food and sex – before Ash Wednesday. Then Lent begins, with abstinence and reflection until Easter. Many people therefore give the word carnival the more general meaning “goodbye to the carnal”. Carnival = “ship carriages” But carnival is probably a concept with deeper roots than Christian church history. Both Greek and Roman sources give reason to claim that this tradition dates back to pagan times. Greek vase paintings from the sixth century BC show masked people moving in a procession to music. A “carrus navalis” has probably given rise to the word “carnival”. And Greek poets write about “ships with wheels” that were pulled through the streets in honor of the wine god Dionysis. Such “ships”, or carrus navalis, are mentioned in several places in Greek literature. Thus we arrive at the most probable origin of the word carnival: A carrus navalis, with celebrating and singing people on board – at the center of a procession that pays homage to the gods. 5000 years ago But the theories about the origin of the carnival do not stop there. Some believe that it takes 5,000 years to find the deepest roots. And we have to go to the area between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris – ancient Mesopotamia. A Babylonian inscription from the third millennium BC tells of a seven-day celebration held to mark a symbolic marriage of one of the gods. The Roman Saturnalia was probably a precursor to the carnival. Photo: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP «No grain is ground these days. The slave is equal to her mistress and the slave to her master. The powerful and their subjects are equal “, it says in the inscription. Whether this is a precursor to today’s carnival we can not know. But the Babylonian inscription describes something of the core of the carnival celebration: The normal social order is set aside. High and low are equal. And the rules of morality and good behavior are repealed. Equality behind the mask During the Roman celebrations for Saturn, the so-called saturnalia, people from all walks of life participated. Slaves and free men changed roles, and sat at the same table where they ate and drank to their heart’s. Protected by the mask, everyone could say what they wanted without being punished. During the celebration, a temporary king was crowned, who was to have power in these days. This tradition of a “carnival king” is alive and well today. We see this in Rio de Janeiro, among other places, where the mayor hands over the city’s keys to King Momo when the carnival starts. This year’s “Carnival King”, King Memo, in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Bruna Prado / AP
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This is the 5,000-year-old carnival tradition – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
