Rio De Janeiro Carnival Takes Fancy Dress Seriously

Rio de Janeiro Carnival isn't all parades and samba – there are also a series of high end fancy dress competitions, held in fashionable clubs. Some participants take them very seriously – spending up to US$50,000 on costumes.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

World

Topics

South America, Arts & Culture

Places

Brazil, Rio De Janeiro

Transcript

SCRIPT: An apocalyptic angel, a red devil, a sorcerer with a twisted broom – at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, rather more effort goes into the costumes than at your average fancy dress party. SOUNDBITE 1, Jorge Abreu (man), contestant dressed as “Sorcerer with a twisted broom” (Portuguese, 13 sec) “I’m dressed as a sorcerer. My costume is made of plastic bags that pollute the environment . It’s a politically correct costume using material that would otherwise be thrown away.” Some of the other contestants have clearly spared no expense, on pearls, sequins and feathers. This is a serious competition – the 24 candidates have spent up to six months creating their outfits. SOUNDBITE 2, Marcia Verissimo (woman), member of the costume jury (Portuguese, 13 sec): “This costume competition is part of the romance of the Rio Carnival. Each category is important. Luxury, originality, creativity… and the competitor’s charm is important too, of course” These competitions date back to the 1930s and were once one of the main attractions of Carnival. In recent years, though, the samba school parades have stolen the limelight. SOUNDBITE 3, Romy de Vitti (woman), member of the jury (Portuguese, 10 sec) “The really celebrated champions of the carnival costume competitions have disappeared one by one. But now the tradition is coming back, over the last 4 years we’ve seen a revival of our old carnival” That revival is down to a few true devotees – like Flavio Rocha. His costume this year is “The Lover of the Moon” … it weighs 40 kilograms, took him six months and cost 30 000 euros to make. All for something he will only wear for a few minutes at the competition, and again at a samba school parade. Flavio is a lawyer by trade – but this is his real passion. SOUNDBITE 4, Flavio Rocha (man) costume competition participant (Portuguese, 18 sec) “When I put a costume on, I forget everything, I get under the skin of my character and forget everything around me. I’m just living in the present, I’m happy, I’m on cloud nine.” The Lover of the Moon costume got its second and possibly last airing on a float at the Uniao de Ilha samba school parade. During the hour and a half spectacle, 72 thousand people got to see Flavio’s masterwork. He is now trying to persuade the samba schools to launch their own fancy dress competitions – to help keep a proud tradition alive. SHOTLIST: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, 19 JAN-10 FEB 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV SEQUENCE 1 - 10/02/2013 -Contestant Elton Oliveira dressed as an angel of the apocalypse -Contestant Igor Lopes dressed as a red devil -Jorge Abreu showing off his costume "The Sorcerer with a twisted broom" -the jury SOUNDBITE 1 SEQUENCE 2 - 10/02/2013 -Contestant Rosana dressed as an enchanted dragonfly -the audience taking pictures SOUNDBITE 2 SEQUENCE 3 - 10/02/2013 and 19/01/2013 -Contestant Marcos Dias in his costume "The resurrection of Tutankhuman" -Flavio Rocha in his costume "The Lover of the Moon" -Flavio and his assistants in his workshop in a Rio suburb (19/01/2013) SOUNDBITE 4 SEQUENCE 4 - 10/02/2013 at the samba schools parade -VAR of Flavio being lifted onto the top of a float by a crane -VAR of Flavio dancing on the float