Samba school to reference Don Quixote
Cervantes's hero will be the starting motive to inspire a reflection into Brazil's “troubles” and propose a solution to the problems.
Miguel Cervantes's Don Quixote of La Mancha will be dancing to the samba on Carnival Sunday (Feb. 7) as the Mocidade Independente, a samba school from Padre Miguel, West Rio, comes up on the sambadrome. It is one the six schools in Rio's Special Group that will parade Sunday.
Their theme for this year, “O Brasil de La Mancha: Sou Miguel, Padre Miguel. Sou Cervantes, Sou Quixote Cavaleiro, Pixote Brasileiro”, was created by Carnival designer Alexandre Louzada and creative director Edson Pereira. Drawing on puns wtih references to the Spanish author and his character, the samba school's home community, and Pixote, a boy character from the Brazilian film who endures the crudeness of life on the street, the theme song is a tribute to the Brazilian people who, as Louzada points out, continue to dream and hope for a better country despite all difficulties and the economic and political crisis.
Alexandre Louzada hinted that Mocidade will put on a huge show this year. The floats will be really big, and some will use technology to bring their sculptures to life. Cervantes's hero will be the starting motive to inspire a reflection into Brazil's “troubles” and propose a solution to the problems. According to the Carnival designer, the song also implies that Brazilians should read more if they really want to understand what is going on with their country.
“If we want more Don Quixotes, we should give more to today's 'pixotes' going forward, bracing them with all the right weapons—books, pencils, notebooks, quality education—so they can learn to tell what's right and what's wrong. They could be the next generation that will wipe this country's blemishes [manchas, in Portuguese] away,” he said.
Difficulties
Louzada said that because of the dollar hike and the economic crisis facing the country, the samba school, like so many others, has had to give up using certain imported materials to decorate the costumes. He said not many items had to be replaced, but they did use substitutes on some sections. “We've designed a Carnival show with a sense of crisis awareness.”
According to Louzada, the parade had originally been planned to be about a struggle between good and evil, and as new events unfolded in the country, the theme turned out to be really timely, controversial, and relevant. “I think it's about raising the banner of the people's grievances, of what people would like to tell and show the world about what's going on here. [It's about] not letting the people's uprising cool off. I think that's what our story is about.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Samba school to reference Don Quixote
