An overview of the world’s greatest party!

Here’s a Mosaic Video story on Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval traditions – enjoy!

Rio de Janeiro’s mayor likes to call his city’s Carnaval celebration the largest party in the world and so far, no other world-class city has challenged that claim. Perhaps no one could.

Each year, Rio’s calling card is thrown down for the rest of the world to enjoy and a healthy dose of Brazilian alegria only helps to amplify the experience of watching these large groups called Escolas de Samba march through a half-mile parade route in a special arena called the Sambadrome.

It’s quite a sight: Each Escola (Samba School) has a theme, a unique samba song to match it and literally thousands of costumed dancers to act out various stories within the theme. Once inside Rio’s Sambadrome, any sense of proportion goes straight off the charts: the bateria (rhythm section) can be as many as 500 drummers! Ornate floats signal the beginning of another part to the story, and quite often it takes every second of the allotted 80 minutes to complete the march.

São Paulo’s edition got underway Friday evening with the usual fanfare at its own Sambadrómo in the city’s Anhembi district, and to be fair, SP’s celebration is every bit as grand as Rio’s, and in some ways even a bit better. But it lacks Rio’s sense of tradition. Further north Salvador, Bahia got off to an even earlier start on Thursday, with the popular street party filling 15 miles of parade routes as hundreds of thousands of Carnaval revelers dance to the music behind the slowly moving, million-dollar stages called Trio Eletricos. Unlike Rio and São Paulo, you don’t watch. You dance!

But Carnaval in Brazil still means Rio and on Sunday night when the Estácio samba school steps off to begin the two-day parade, it will continue a tradition that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

In a way, it all began with the Estácio district, which sits in the hills overlooking the creation of Samba – a small park called Praça Onze (Park Eleven) and the nearby home of an African-Brazilian matriarch, Tia Ciata. Born in Bahia, she began to organize weekend get-togethers for ex-slaves and immigrants from the northeast, and word soon spread that these casual parties were the place to be.

And be heard. Musicians came to play: Donga, Pixinguinha, Sinhô and Joôo da Baiana drew on their African and Bahian roots to shape the early sound of Samba, and in time would come to be regarded as the pioneers of Brazil’s unique-to-the-world style.

Years went by, and with each passing weekend the musical cultures of Africa, Bahia and Rio continued to mingle at Tia Ciata’s home. That’s where the first Samba – ‘Pelo Telefone’ (On The Phone) was written in 1917. Its lyrics included the line “The chief of fun told me on the telephone to dance with joy.” You can listen to part of that original recording here.

Meanwhile in the narrow, winding streets of Estácio, the roots of Samba were being distilled in the neighborhood’s street side bars by many of the musicians who frequented Tia Ciata’s parties. Fortified with cachaça and beer, and away from the direct influence of Praça Onze, these locals spent long nights transforming Samba into the style we know today, forever separating it from the earlier musical styles that had given Samba its origin.

By 1928, Estácio’s grip on Samba was unquestioned. The very first Escola de Samba was formed in Estácio that year. It was called ‘Deixa Falar’. The translation is a little tricky In English. It could mean ‘Let Us Speak’ – as a statement of the group’s independent stance, or it could be ‘Let Them Talk’ – meaning that the group didn’t care what was thought of their independent action. Either way, the point was made in a very public way: Less than a year later this neighborhood group marched through Praça Onze to lead the first Carnaval parade for African-Brazilians. This bold statement was in defiance of the times: blacks and mulattos were discouraged from organizing Carnaval groups.

Deixa Falar marched again in 1930, and in ’31 and ’32 and by doing so; it forever changed the nature of Brazil’s Carnaval traditions. Other Escolas were formed soon after Deixa Falar, including the legendary groups from Mangueira and Portela. In 1935, The Brazilian government officially recognized these parades and moved them from the confines of Praça Onze to more spacious areas downtown to begin the modern-day weekend celebration that is Rio’s Carnaval.

Deixa Falar fell by the wayside in 1933 and historic Praça Onze was paved over during the construction of Avenida Presidente Vargas ten years later. Today the location of the little park is home to the subway station that serves Rio’s Sambadrome. And Estácio? The little district became known as ‘the birthplace of Samba’ and as Samba’s popularity grew, Estácio’s original style was given a name all its own: Samba de Morro or ‘Samba of the Hills’. It remains as Samba’s purest form.

So now you know a bit more about the history of Samba and Carnaval. If you’re lucky enough to be close to a television that carries TV Globo, you can watch Estácio step off smartly at 6 PM EST Sunday night – the celebration in Rio continues through to the early hours of Tuesday. The winning Escola will be announced a week later.

I’ll never forget the first time I met two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves. Twelve years ago, I was in São Paulo to visit with Formula 1 racing champion Emerson Fittipaldi (he’s also won the Indy 500 twice) who was overseeing the young driver’s career. Called to the phone, Emmo stepped out, saying “I’ll leave you here with Helio – he’s very entertaining!” All smiles and energy, Helio proceeded to entertain us with a story – part narration, part interpretive theater – of a recent spinout at the race track. It ended up ‘all arms and elbows’ as he recreated the event, and later a friend and I agreed that he was someone to keep an eye on.

Helio Castroneves

On Friday, October 3rd the former Dancing With The Stars winner was led into a Miami courtroom in handcuffs and shackles to face charges of conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion by a grand jury for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence. His business manager (and sister) Kati, and his lawyer Alan Miller are charged with assisting Castroneves in the supposed scheme. Castroneves plead not guilty to these charges and was ordered released on $10 million bail. He also had to surrender his passport.

In court, an attorney for Miller called the government’s case “weak, thin and it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.” Added the attorney, Mike Tein, “If the case did not involve a celebrity, there would be no case.” Tein described the offshore account in question as “a pension plan used by celebrities like the Rolling Stones,” adding, “the government does not understand this pension plan.”

But IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said using offshore corporations to evade taxes is a crime. “This case sends a clear message that the IRS is committed to vigorously enforcing the tax laws and stopping offshore tax evasion.” Castroneves’ attorney, Mark Seiden, told CNN he believes his client will be vindicated. “Helio is a superb and accomplished race car driver,” he said. “He is not an accountant. He relied on others for his taxes. Helio did nothing wrong.” It has also been reported that, with the exception of the year in question, Castroneves has paid his US tax bill and complied with all requirements.

While the charges shocked many in the motor sports and entertainment worlds, they were years in the making, according to a report filed by Curt Calvin in the Indianapolis Star today. The 25-page indictment showed that Castroneves, Kati Castroneves and a Michigan-based lawyer, Alan R. Miller, testified in a civil case in 2004 about their involvement with Seven Promotions. The indictment alleges that all three testified falsely.

Since then, government officials have investigated many entities financially associated with Castroneves and his company, Castroneves Racing, including his employer and friends such as Kanaan, Gil de Ferran and Felipe Giaffone. The fellow Brazilians wrote checks to Castroneves Racing to pay for such things as travel expenses from their mutual base in Miami to races.

The predicament is precarious at a minimum. Not only is Castroneves, 33, facing significant federal charges, he has his U.S. residency and career at stake. Born a Brazilian, Castroneves lives in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables, Fla., on a U.S. visa. Such licenses have specific guidelines regarding abiding the laws. Vitor Meira, another Brazilian who drives in the IndyCar Series, said such holders must be careful “not to even get a DUI (for impaired driving).” Castroneves has worked and lived in the U.S. since 1996.

But as the court case finally gets underway, details have emerged from document filings which seem to indicate that Emerson Fittipaldi was the ‘whistle blower’ here. When an opportunity to step up to Roger Penske’s racing organization came along, Castroneves fired Fittipaldi, who was managing the younger driver’s career. A few years later, the bad blood between these two boiled over into a law suit, where Fittipaldi charged breach of contract. The case went all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Castroneves.

It was the details in these court papers that have now formed the basis for Helio’s current legal woes.  

I hope for the best for both Helio and Emerson. Both have been good friends to our radio show and exemplary cultural ambassadors for their county. The case against Helio is strong. Helio maintains his innocence. And knowing Emerson, there can be no satisfaction in any smile that crosses his lips.

New York, May 18, 1939. The mooring lines on the S.S. Uruguay had barely been tied off when Brazil’s Carmen Miranda swept down the gang plank to a throng of waiting reporters. At 5′ 2″ and listed only sixth on the playbill, she had arrived to play Broadway with Abbott and Costello. But from those very first moments in front of the media, America would quickly learn that she was already larger than life:

“I say 20 words in English. I say ‘money, money, money’,” she began. “And I say ‘hot dog’! I say ‘yes’, ‘no’ and I say ‘money, money, money’ and I say ‘turkey sandwich’ and I say ‘grape juice’.”

Clearly, when that cruise ship anchored down in New York harbor, Carmen Miranda’s career launched her on the way to international stardom.

Monday, February 9th marked Carmen Miranda’s 100th birthday, and now, nearly 54 years after her passing, there’s no doubt that Carmen Miranda remains larger than life. Her fruit-topped turbans and yards of Brazilian bling have inspired countless female impersonators and drag queens from San Francisco to Copacabana, making her one of the most imitated celebrities ever.

But lest you think that the chronicle of charismatic Carmen’s caricature is completely camp, consider:

In 1939, Carmen Miranda was at the height of her popularity as a singer and performer in Brazil when she arrived in the US as her country’s Ambassador of Good Will for the New York World’s Fair.

Her colorful costumes, with brightly laid laced skirts, heaps of jewelry, platform shoes and a turban-like orchard atop her head, reflected her love of the Afro-Brazilian Bahiana, and made the city of Bahia famous overnight. The ‘Bahian look’ as it was called, took the American fashion scene by storm, and she was chosen one of the ten most outstanding women in 1939.

Her first US film, Down Argentine Way, won an Academy Award nomination in 1941, and was just the first of many more, including Weekend in Havana, That Night in Rio, Copacabana with Groucho Marx, A Date With Judy, Springtime In The Rockies, Four Jills in a Jeep, and Scared Stiff with Dean Martin.

By 1945, Carmen Miranda made her way into America’s Top Ten of highest paid people, and by extraction was quite probably one of the wealthiest female wage earners in the world.

And, yes – even thought today Chiquita Banana has swayed decidedly Latina, – that’s Carmen Miranda, too.

Carmen’s story thoroughly Brazilian and a studio screenplay come to life. From her Star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame to the recent exhibition of her life at Rio’s Museum of Contemporary Art, her role as a cultural icon spanning the Americas is unique, not to be repeated until Bossa Nova’s seductive sway caught our attention in the early 60′s.

In honor of her Centennial, Ive selected excerpts from an unaccredited biography at to help you learn more about Carmen Miranda. The Brazilian Bombshell. The Lady with the Tutti Frutti Hat.

Enjoy the ride!