A psychomagical vision of the Brazilian carnival

Alyne Emanuella Silva & Luiz Gabriel Lopes02-20-20243 min. read

An interdimensional portal, a ceremonial liturgy, a communal intoxication? Much more than a protocol celebration of the Catholic calendar, Carnival in Brazil is an extremely complex aesthetic and political web in which society celebrates and dances its contradictions, pains and beauties. It is based on a social – and poetic – pact that has been inescapable throughout Brazil's history and is now considered one of the main symbols of the Brazilian spirit.

It is difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced Carnival in Brazil the invigorating force that marks a kind of ritual of renewal at the beginning of each new year: These are four sacred days imbued with a dreamlike atmosphere where nothing is forbidden and everything is allowed. The drums take public space by storm, reconnecting with the spirits of the street through the grammars and alphabets handed down by their ancestors. The human bodies, in turmoil and half-naked, dance, sweat, laugh and cry in an emotional intensity full of libido and the urge to live.Carnival mixes and rearranges everything out of chaos – like a big creative blender that catalyses the emergence of new visions and new perspectives. After attempts throughout history to elitise this colourful festival, it is always important to remember that Carnival is a child of the streets. It is a festival where the voice of the working class is much stronger than that of the boardroom. It is a popular rally that feeds on the rebellion of the resistance. "The festival and the struggle have always been siblings," said the Brazilian academic Luiz Antonio Simas.Of course, there are those who turn up their noses and say that carnival is for the underemployed. Anyone who says that simply does not understand the festival. Because apart from the gigantic economic importance that carnival has now attained, it is also – and above all – a collective, psychomagical work, a great syncretic magic, something typically Brazilian. It is like a lyrical rift in time and space, in which the traumas of our colonial past – slavery and social inequality – are given a chance to come into harmony, if only for a short time.Because yes, Carnival is like a whirlwind of emotions. Like a circle in which our ancestors are conjured back for a while and whose actions take place in a very skilful interweaving of the sacred and the profane. It is both a spiritual festival and a celebrated spirituality. Like a kind of cultural medicine that has been decanted during centuries of colonial oppression, producing advanced technologies for a good life. Carnival is a wisdom that allows people to dance with the tragic dimension of life and overcome it through the miracle of joy.Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso sings: "Samba is the father of joy, the son of pain and the great transforming force". Like samba, carnival walks this fine line. It should be seen as an instrument born from the profound knowledge of our ancestors, an essential intangible heritage of the human experience on our planet. Like a copyleft technology that Brazil hopes can be used to heal other societies in other countries from their equally troubled pasts.Text: Alyne Emanuella Silva and Luiz Gabriel Lopes
German Translation: Daniel VizentiniThe Brazilian cultural association Adalu believes in the power and value of Brazilian carnival as a means of enchantment and for rebuilding a collective sense of life.
This year, the group is organising the fourth edition of "Tropikaos": on 24 February from 8 pm at Moods, with dance and various musical and visual performances.