27.02.2023

Beacon celebrates diversity in Carnaval parade

By Gabriel Oliveira

Aiming to gain a deeper understanding of Bahia’s Carnaval and its importance to Brazilian culture, art, and music, the teachers got together to organize a parade. Counting on the students’ participation in various costumes, the celebration took place over two days, at the Villa and Berlioz unit, and at Campus.

Students from G6 to Y5 (from 6 years old to 5th grade) made allegories and props, and Y11 (2nd year of High School) produced colorful banners to decorate the event. Y7, on the other hand, was responsible for the music in the units, playing atabaque, caixa, gogô, and guitar. G6 had a special dance in the auditorium, where they danced and sang amidst soap bubbles. In both art and music, the students were able to learn more about the visual and sound elements that are part of Carnaval. In the classroom, they discussed the national and regional relevance of the celebration, besides building a more complex vision, far removed from the stereotypes attributed to the festivity. The students were invited to learn about the various rhythms and songs that make up the carnival music. Among them, Afoxé and Samba-rock received the most attention. 

The Afoxé is one of the rhythms that best represents the African influence in Brazil. The Afoxé Parade, or Cortejo de Afoxés, as it is also called, was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of Bahia. “Filhos de Gandhy” is one of the main musical groups in Salvador, created by longshoremen and still alive today. Responsible for popularizing the Ijexá rhythm, the group’s musical and visual tradition makes reference to African culture. Samba-reggae is also a popular music genre in Bahia, created and spread by the maestro Neguinho do Samba. Musically, the genre is an organic mix between Brazilian samba and Jamaican reggae. Both styles have contributed and contribute to the celebration of diversity in Brazil, with frequent allusions to Africa. 

The event was a way for students to get to know, inside and outside the classroom, the cultural richness and diversity of Carnaval, and to actively contribute to the parade.