Guapa Brasil Carnaval Hermosa Bailarina de Samba Dance

Gorgeous Brazilian! The 2014 Rio de Janeiro Carnival Princess has been officially selected, and the carnival season. Gracieli Chaveirinho was chosen second princess Rio Carnival 2014 On November 8 Rio de Janeiro official body Toursim, RIOTUR that selected the 2014 Carnival Queen for next season in the tough competition. The presentation took 8 candidates had to answer questions of qualified jurors, and then had a little over a minute and a half to show their samba dance routine. The next 8 final candidates where the Queen of Carnival contestants and presented in the following order: 1) Leticia Guimaraes (Selected for Queen of Carnival 2014 - Carnival Queen elected) 2) Camila Macedo - Professor of Physical Education, 29 years 3) Gracieli Chaveirinho, 31 (second princess Chosen Rio Carnival) 4) Luciana Con ..

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Chinese labour making T&T mas

Workers getting down to business at Legacy’s workshop in Woodbrook.

Chinese Labour has not only impacted on the local construction industry, but has been playing an increasing role in the local production of mas. Every year for Carnival, millions of dollars is spent by bandleaders on materials and labour out of China. Several costume designers and producers last week said it could cost up to $3 million to produce a Carnival band, especially a large band. For a number of years, China has been leveraging its labour and machinery in order to compete in the global marketplace. Using its comparative advantage to gain access to countries like T&T, China has been successfully attracting local costume designers and producers with its cheap labour, reasonably-priced raw materials, in addition to the accessibility and variety of these materials. “We do not have any manufacturing company nor do we get all the raw materials here in T&T,” said bandleader Mike “Big Mike” Antoine. Antoine, Legacy’s five-time Band of the Year winner, who produces all his costumes locally, said accessing materials is his biggest challenge. “I have no choice but to buy the materials out of T&T.” He explained that stores, like Jimmy Aboud, would only supply some of the cloth, and other stores like Samaroo’s Ltd and Tulip, provided other inputs used in the creation of mas costumes. “Therefore, we have to turn to countries like China to purchase materials.”

The cost of playing mas

Being in the business more than 20 years, Antoine said it cost him about $75,000 to produce a band when he started out. Producing one costume now costs between $1,200 and $1,800, he says.

Antoine, who said his band has a maximum of 2,000 masqueraders, said the cost of a costume was an estimate as there were hidden costs and major expenses such as music, food and security.

He said that in addition to paying his 30-member staff, security costs roughly $250,000, depending on the size of the band, a deejay costs between $60,000 to $75,000, and the bill for a music truck is $100,000. Antoine said producing mas is a costly venture and one will not survive in the business of Carnival if you don’t love the culture.
“Carnival is my life, so I market myself effectively. It is also a risky business, therefore marketing yourself is key,” Antoine said he has managed to keep his prices down for the benefit of his loyal masqueraders. Legacy’s theme for 2011 is South Pacific. Antoine said he hopes that one day soon, bandleaders would be able to produce a Carnival band entirely in T&T. He said more needs to be done for mas designers and to raise the standard of Carnival. “We need a voice to lobby for us. We need to market our product outside as well. T&T Carnival is the mother of all Carnivals and we need to raise the bar.”

Limited raw materials
Stacey Des Vignes, a director at the Oasis mas camp, said it costs 100 per cent more to produce a band locally than to import costume-related materials from China. “This is the reason those who are just in the business aspect of it and not for the love of it, take this route of importing costumes,” she said. Des Vignes, who produces her costumes locally, said she shared the same challenges as others in the business of producing a Carnival band. “We do not have the machinery nor the raw decorative materials, so we have to source it from China,” she added. She explained that the Chinese operate out of New York where customers have the option of ordering or purchasing their product from there and then have it shipped from China. She said China has cornered the market because they have the resources available. Des Vignes lamented that taxes on raw material must be reduced. The taxes, she added, need to be structured. “It costs about $1,500 to produce one costume and that does not include staff and other overhead costs,” she said. Des Vignes, who has been involved in producing mas for about eight years, said she does it for the love of T&T culture. She first started with a section in Poison, moved on to produce a section in Tribe and another in Element. She decided to take a year off and branched out on her own, along with her other partners, for 2011. We budgeted and used our savings. It’s a big risk to bring out a band, but we are doing it on love and debt,” she said. She indicated that costume sales were great for a new band.



Bring back creativity in mas

Echoing similar sentiments to those of Des Vignes was bandleader Peter Samuel, a disciple of veteran masman Peter Minshall, and an eight-time King of Carnival, who has decided to return to Carnival this year with his band: Skullduggery—The Dance of Deceit. He noted that mas designers need to bring back creativity in mas. So even though some of them produce mas locally, there are limited jobs available.

“It’s the same thing all over. It’s a poor imitation of Las Vegas showgirls,” Samuel stated. Totally against the idea of importing costumes wholesale from China, Samuel said seamstresses have been looking for work, but they are no longer needed. Samuel said the production of mas has turned into an assembly line, whereby workers are just required to cut and stick. He said he’s made the bold decision to stay away from bikini-and-beads type of costumes. Samuel said he recognises the limitations of producing a band locally.



He said his band has had to source materials from China for two of his 18-sectioned band because the items were not available locally. Items were also sourced  in the United States. Multiculturalism Minister Winston Peters on February 2, during a tour of mas camps in San Fernando, said that mas designers who import their costumes wholesale from China would experience prohibitive taxes in an effort to maintain and nurture the artform in T&T. While Samuel agrees with Peters on the subject of taxes on importing mas materials from China, he said that designers who produce mas locally should be assisted in order to bring down the cost of production. Samuel said it costs him up to $900 to produce a costume, but given other costs, such as music, food and security, final costume prices have been kept at between $1,900 and $2,895.



Government assistance

Even though the cost of producing a mas band is very high, there are six new bands for Carnival 2011.

Among them are Yuma, Bliss, Oasis and Skullduggery. Spice is returning for a second year. One of the new bandleaders, who wished to remain anonymous, said banks should be encouraged to facilitate new Carnival bands. The bandleader said it is very difficult to get a loan from the bank because they do not want to take the risk associated with Carnival. The bandleader said the Government should find alternative means to assist in the growth of the Carnival, that the high cost of producing a band has to be passed on to masqueraders. Earlier, Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz had said that one of the ministry’s plans is to establish a factory for the sole purpose of producing costumes locally. Cadiz said he would also reduce and, in some cases, remove certain duties on particular raw materials to bring down the cost of Carnival costume production.
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Is there class in Carnival?

Often the celebrity is spotted in IslandPeople mas.
Here, Anya Ayoung Chee, right, parades with a friend.
 Photo: courtesy IslandPeople Mas

The spice of our island is quietly rearing its head. Carnival 2011 is near, and with the emergence of brand new soca music, the conclusion of band launches, and the ongoing hustle to register at mas camps where limited costumes remain, the scorch of the season can be felt. Anxiously, masqueraders from across the world wait with bated breath for that moment in time when all inhibitions will be thrown out the door. Revellers will dance in the street, party on the sidewalk, and drink festively. But the question that remains in the back of many people’s minds is, “Has Carnival been diluted?”

Carnival only for elite?
Over the years, world development, and by extension, the development of human beings, has fostered a whirlwind change in our island’s Carnival industry. The costumes have transformed from lengthy, bulky and heavy, to beads and bikinis, feathers and costumed embellishments, highly reflective of Brazil’s sexual staging of a similar festival. The music, too, has changed, with a greater embrace to popular foreign culture with its hip-hop beats, and even dancehall persuasion.

More than anything else, though, the financial climate of Carnival has changed. A band considered to be “the best to jump with on the road” can cost a masquerader in excess of $3,000, this even as the average man on the street is paid a minimum wage of $10 per hour.
Who then are bandleaders catering to? Is it safe to assume that Carnival is now an elitist party, where only those who can afford the exorbitant cost of a costume from the popular bands, and drink free cocktails at $650 all-inclusive fetes, can truly be a part of the cultural and seasonal landscape of our island?

Lewis denies class targets
While there remain public fetes that still draw large audiences, mainly from the lower echelon of our society, there is no denying that the bulk of Carnival’s engagements target the “haves”. Island People’s Derrick Lewis enlightened the T&T Guardian on how he perceives the ever-evolving event and Carnival-masquerade industry, and why it’s not a matter of class, more than it is the privilege factor. “Class is a factor, but not as big as it is played up to be, and certainly not the defining element.

“I think demographics and psycho graphics are playing a more prominent role than ever before, and choice is driven much of the time by the consumer who is looking for more and more service,” said Lewis. He added, “People are defining their targets much more strategically now. The marketing of a band, or an event has become more sophisticated than in years gone by,” he said, explaining that image and economic brackets were certainly included in modern day marketing layouts within T&T’s Carnival. Lewis, however, disagreed that class was a target that stood alone when it came to today’s event and masquerade-band marketing. “I think that based on the middle class being so big in Trinidad and Tobago, as compared to other places in the Caribbean, class boundaries are not defined here,” said Lewis.

“I think there’s more of a movement among local promoters and bandleaders, to offer a privilege to patrons, most of whom desire greater privileges. “At Islandpeople Mas we have one common target, ‘real’ passionate Carnival people who are looking for a creative, service filled, safe, Carnival experience come 2011.” Lewis said in local society there were people from all walks of life who wanted to be treated like a VIP, and would pay more to be treated as such. He said the words “uptown” and “downtown” that were so loosely used, really weren’t properly defined, and he personally did not believe they should be used in setting marketing targets for events and mas bands.

Polarisation in event promotion
The bandleader and educator agreed that the cost of mas today, as opposed to years gone by, was a big factor as to why some people stayed away from Carnival, and hinted that there certainly had been a movement toward polarisation in the local promotion industry in recent years. He, however insisted that social class was not a contributing factor, adding that privilege was key.

“The value and importance of Carnival of ‘we’ has started to move towards, Carnival of ‘me’,” said Lewis, citing that while the festival began many years ago as a national and cultural engagement, various societal elements, inclusive of crime and development of other ills, had diverted the natural course of the festival. There’s no denying that over the years a shift as taken place. Whether the shift has taken away from, or added to the notion of “the greatest show on earth”, is based on individual perception. One thing is certain though, and that’s the fact that one must be financially secure to engage in most of what’s offered within T&T’s Carnival.

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Mac Farlane resurrects mas

Marion Seelbach of Germany, left, Bernd and Beatrice Hirnschrodt of Austria, right, look at the illustration on the front wall of Brian Mac Farlane’s mas camp on Rosalino Street, Woodbrook. Photos: Dilip Singh

On the front wall of Brian Mac Farlane’s mas camp on Rosalino Street, Woodbrook, there is a large cream and brown illustration of Carnival in Port-of-Spain in 1888. It is a copy of an actual illustration done by one Milton Prior for a London newspaper of that time. Resurrection, Mac Farlane’s presentation this year, seeks to reproduce as closely as possible the bats, jab molassies (molasses devils), cow heads, burrokeets (donkeys), dragons and other mas of the 1870s to 1930s. It was the mas that came from the “jamette society” of Port-of-Spain, University of the West Indies Creative Arts lecturer, Lari Richardson, browsing around the camp last Monday, offered.

Eva Kenton of England views costumes on display.

The costumes were designed by Mac Farlane but the ideas were derived from Professor Jeff Henry’s book, Behind the Mas. It is the kind of mas that seems to attract foreigners, like 34-year-old Jeremy Powell of Miami and his Trinidadian friend, Brian Wong Won, who came early to collect their stickfighter costumes. “It’s similar to what we are doing for J’Ouvert. Brian is bringing out a band called Mas Jumbies,” Powell said. Eva Kenton of England, who visits Carnival all over the world, from Rio de Janeiro to Venice, seemed enthralled by the displays in the reception area. “I am trying to get as much Carnival information as possible,” she said. Austrian couple, Bernd and Beatrice Hirnschrodt, who visited the camp, said they were making a documentary on T&T Carnival, while German, Marion Seelbach, was helping out and playing with the band.

LEFT: Workers putting the finishing touches on costumes in Mac Farlane’s mas camp.
RIGHT: Delia Carmino attaches bells to a jab molassie costume.

Invoking fear
There are over 1,000 costumes in the band and the sign, “Sold Out”, was above many of the 16 sections on display at the camp. Costumes range from $2,800 to $3,800, plus VAT. “Bats, Red Indians and Black Indians went first,” Maurice Chevalier, public relations officer, said. A mannequin in the full dress of a woman of the plantation era holding a child stood prominently in the middle of the reception room. “It’s from the section, Baby Doll,” Chevalier said. “It represents a bondwoman taken by the slave owner for copulation, who bore a child for him.”
A sailor with a very long nose made like a phallus stood nearby.
“It’s from the Suck Me Nose Sailor section,” Chevalier said.
“It represents misbehaving sailors who landed at the port and went carousing about town.” A costume of a woman on a horse is from the section, Soumayree. It depicts a Hindu religious rite in which the horse was used in worship to the goddess, Durga (Kali), Chevalier said. A demonic-looking cow’s head comprises most of the Mad Cow but it only depicts cattle brought to the island at the time which went “mad” after their long sea’s journey, Chevalier explained. The Bat section shows that bats were plentiful in T&T in the old days and mas makers found it easy to mimic them. The king of Mac Farlane’s band The Dragon Can Dance, a massive dragon with wide open mouth and prominent teeth, was already placed first in the preliminaries of the King of Carnival competition.

                                   Maurice Chevalier, public relations officer, shows the Suck Me Nose Sailor.

Queen, Dame Gwo Bunda, with oversized bust and rear end, placed first. All in earthy browns and creams, with no glitter, it’s not the “pretty mas” of Trini Revellers. “Costume like Jab Molassie is macabre mas, the kind that invokes fear,” Chevalier said. Mac Farlane’s band is one of the large ones that do not import costumes. “Everything is locally made,” Chevalier said, with almost reverence. Distribution began last Monday but workers were busy putting the finishing touches on costumes in a large shed. A sewing room with piles of costume material and dozens of finished pieces on racks in a nearby room also testified to Chevalier’s claim.

Ryan Persad, left, and Damian Moore reinforce cows’ heads..

“Everything is made individually, one piece at a time,” he stressed. “So much is being done outside. We make an effort to maintain the local creativity.” While there is some wire bending, most of Mac Farlane’s mas seems to be made from cloth and papier mache. In the mas camp, youths, Ryan Persad and Damian Moore, reinforced cows’ heads while Delia Carmino attached tiny bells to jab molassies. Carol le Pierre put earrings on female sailors and Vanessa Bowyer and Judy de Freitas stuck flowers on dame lorraines’ headpieces. Kirk Richmond monitored large bags of finished costumes in the distribution section of the camp waiting to be collected.


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Rio de Janeiro carnival preparations in pictures

Carnival season is upon us. The biggest and most famous of all the world's carnivals is the one held annually in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The carnival is a four-day celebration that starts on Saturday, and ends on Fat Tuesday or Mardi-Gras. This year it runs from February 13 through to February 16

A man works on a carnival float from the Grande Rio samba school
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Julia Lira, Preteen Carnival Drum Corps Queen, Stirs Controversy

RIO DE JANEIRO — She is the Shirley Temple of samba, a 7-year-old named to a coveted Carnival role normally reserved for barely clad models who have undergone more plastic surgeries than little Julia Lira has seen birthdays. Naming the girl drum corps queen for the Viradouro samba group is raising eyebrows even in a city that has seen everything during the annual mega-party that begins next week.

A judge is considering blocking Julia's participation. A state agency that defends children's rights says she's too young to take on a traditionally sexy role. But the girl's father, who happens to be the president of the Viradouro group, says Julia is a natural who can easily samba through the 80-minute parade route in Rio's sweltering summer heat.

"Any man who looks at a 7-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor," Marco Lira said before rehearsal this week. "She has the aptitude to be a drum corps queen – you'll see it tonight. She has a seriousness inside of her when she is on the stage."

At the delicate core of Julia's case is the queen's traditional role in Rio's Carnival: that of sexy muse. Unlike other participants, she is usually not bare-chested and wears more than just glitter. But queen costumes would be considered revealing by any estimation.

Brazil has long had a problem with sexual exploitation of children, especially in the lawless Amazon region. Allowing Julia to be a drum corps queen "would increase the treatment of children as sexual objects in Brazilian society," said Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents.

"We're not against kids participating in Carnival; it's part of Brazilian culture," Nicodemos said. "What we can't allow is putting a 7-year-old girl in a role that traditionally for Carnival has a very sexual focus."

The competition among the 12 top-tier samba groups is fierce, and the winners are hailed by fans across Brazil. Viradouro, which won the title in 1997, is no stranger to controversy. In 2008, a judge blocked the group's use of a dancer dressed as Hitler on a float loaded with naked people representing Holocaust victims after the display caused an international outcry.

Julia's fate is now in the hands of a family court in Rio. The judge examining the case, Ivone Ferreira Caetano, has declined to comment or say when she will make a decision.

Marco Lira said the judge requested information about the girl's role, what time the group was scheduled to makes its presentation – now slated for just after midnight on Feb. 14 – and what Julia would be wearing.

At practice this week, Julia danced in a poofy, white miniskirt, sequined halter top and silver-heeled sandals, a tiara atop her head.

While the details of parade themes and costumes are closely guarded secrets in Rio's Carnival, a Viradouro artistic director said Julia's outfit would be suitable for a child.

"We're taking the necessary precautions because she isn't going to be a muse," Edson Pereira said on the group's Web site. "We can't transform a girl into a woman, much less explore any sensuality."

Just before Tuesday's rehearsal, Julia was roughhousing with two other girls inside her dad's office. She stopped playing only when her mother, Monica, told her it was time to get dressed for practice.

A gregarious girl with a toothy grin, she declined to say much, despite the coaxing of her parents and samba instructor. She didn't like how her mother had fixed her hair and was in no mood to talk to a reporter.

Asked why she wanted to be the drum corps queen, Julia would only say quietly: "I'm happy because I like to dance."

That much is clear.

When she took the stage in front of more than 1,000 people at the rehearsal, she lit up as she presented a bouquet of roses to 30-year-old Juliana Paes, a top Brazilian actress who served as Viradouro's drum queen for five years. Once the beats from the drum corps erupted, Julia dove into her samba routine.

Beyond the question of appropriateness is whether a 4-foot-tall (1.2-meter) girl weighing about 55 pounds (25 kilograms) can physically withstand the dancing during Viradouro's parade.

At the rehearsal, she was handed cups of water within 10 minutes of taking the stage and in 20 minutes started to look tired.

Her father emphasized that several people would be watching after her during the parade, that she would be able to rest and that every precaution would be taken to safeguard her health.

Regardless, some Carnival fans don't see how Julia could be considered for the role.

"She is way too young to be parading down the avenue," said Jaquelene Oliveira, a 19-year-old college student. "The role of the drum corps queen is to inspire the drummers to play hard for 80 minutes. It is an innately sexual role and to put a child in that position is wrong."


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