Rio Carnival Is a Tourist Magnet

The Rio Carnival is a tourist magnet with tens of thousands of visitors joining the world's biggest street party. While some head to the nearest store to buy a bright costume, others - just like the professionals - spend years investing their time into learning how to dance the all-important samba.

Published

about 1 year ago

Categories

World, Americas, South America

Topics

Americas

Places

Brazil, Rio De Janeiro

Tags

samba, carnival, rio

Transcript

SCRIPT: <br></br><br></br>Gaspard is French -- and this is his Rio carnival elf costume. Along with a group of about 10 friends he'll be parading alongside dancers from the Imperio da Tijuca samba school. <br></br><br></br>His love affair with Brazil dates back to his university days. Visiting the country on an exchange programme, he promised himself one day he'd take part in the great Sambodrome parade. <br></br><br></br>His big moment has arrived. Now he just has to remember the moves -- not easy for a beginner. <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 1 Gaspard Voiseau (man), French tourist (French, 7 secs): <br></br>"I'm starting to feel the pressure. We're at the last hurdle and it's really a dream come true, something I've always wanted to do." <br></br><br></br>After an hour's parade on the 720-metre stage the dream is over. Time to catch his breath and share an emotional moment. <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 2 Gaspard Voiseau (man), French tourist (French, 8 secs): <br></br>"I'll always remember this. It's something I've never felt before, sharing so much joy with everyone. It was amazing." <br></br><br></br>Not far away in one of Rio's northern suburbs it's the final rehearsal for three Dutch dancers before they take to the streets with a smaller samba school. Their training programme started back in September and they've been in Brazil for a month preparing for the carnival. <br></br><br></br>For them, this is anything but a holiday -- rather a rare chance for foreign visitors to dance alongside their Brazilian counterparts. <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 3 Katja Jansen (woman), Dutch dancer (English, 18 secs): <br></br>"You have to get a network to enter into the samba schools, you have to go to all the outside neighbourhoods. I think [every assista's] everyone's dream is to be out there dancing with the [grupo especial] very best schools but that requires a lot of work and you have to be there all year round for the [ensayo] training." <br></br><br></br>Katja and her friends are passionate about samba, often performing back home in the Netherlands. But it's their regular trips to Brazil that has given their performances an authentic local twist. <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 4 Barbara Sheldon (woman), Brazilian dancer (Portuguese, 9 secs): <br></br>"The carnival is all about having fun. Katja and her friends are a perfect example of this and that makes them real locals!" <br></br><br></br>For some it's a last-minute holiday, for others a carefully-planned trip. Either way Rio's carnival is attracting more visitors each year. And one thing's for sure... it's hard not to be seduced by the festival's samba rythyms. <br></br><br></br><br></br>SHOTLIST: <br></br><br></br>RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 18, 2012 <br></br>SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br>- Various shots of French tourist Gaspard Voiseau fixing his elf costume <br></br>- Wide shot of Gaspard Voiseau in the streets with members of the Imperio da Tijuca samba school <br></br>- SOUNDBITE 1 Gaspard Voiseau (man), French tourist (French, 7 secs): <br></br>"I'm starting to feel the pressure. We're at the last hurdle and it's really a dream come true, something I've always wanted to do." <br></br>- Various shots of Gaspard Voiseau and members of the Imperio da Tijuca samba school dancing and celebrating in the street <br></br>- SOUNDBITE 2 Gaspard Voiseau (man), French tourist (French, 8 secs): <br></br>"I'll always remember this. It's something I've never felt before, sharing so much joy with everyone. It was amazing." <br></br><br></br>RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 <br></br>SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br>- Various shots of Katja Jansen and her friends rehearsing in the streets of northern Rio de Janeiro with a smaller samba school <br></br>- SOUNDBITE 3 Katja Jansen (woman), Dutch dancer (English, 18 secs): <br></br>"You have to get a network to enter into the samba schools, you have to go to all the outside neighbourhoods. I think [every assista's] everyone's dream is to be out there dancing with the [grupo especial] very best schools but that requires a lot of work and you have to be there all year round for the [ensayo] training." <br></br>- Various shots of Katja Jansen and her friends rehearsing with samba school dancers and musicians <br></br>- SOUNDBITE 4 Barbara Sheldon (woman), Brazilian dancer (Portuguese, 9 secs): <br></br>"The carnival is all about having fun. Katja and her friends are a perfect example of this and that makes them real locals!" <br></br><br></br>RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 19, 2012 <br></br>SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br>- Various shots of Beija-Flor samba school's carnival parade <br></br><br></br>RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 18, 2012 <br></br>SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br>- Medium shot of Imperio da Tijuca samba school's parade <br></br><br></br>RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 <br></br>SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br>- Various shots of Katja Jansen and her friends dancing