Carnival
Brazilian Carnival History is richer, more varied and more interesting than most people think. There is much more to Carnival than just parties. The carnival can trace its roots back to an ancient Greek festival held each spring to honor Dionysus, the god of wine (“Brazilian Carnival in Rio”). The Romans adopted the festival to honor two of their gods, Bacchanalia and Saturnalia. During the Roman festival, slaves and masters would exchange clothes and spend the day in drunken revelry. The Catholic Church later modified the festival as a celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday (“Brazilian Carnival in Rio”).
The name Carnival originates from the Italian "Carnival" festival, which means "to remove meat" which was a tradition of …show more content…

Large parades and street dancing begin one week before Carnival begins, ending on Ash Wednesday. Groups include Crazy Lover, Olivia’s Underpants and The Midnight Man, which features a giant dancing doll as its group leader. Pernambuco created Frevo music, which is predominant throughout the state's parades and celebrations and has athletic and acrobatic movements (Anderson). Organized groups and improvising individuals dance side by side in the parades.
The final style is Minas Gerais. This Carnival style is very attractive to young people and takes place around student housing. The Carnival is influenced by Rio de Janeiro and Bahia style (Anderson). It fuses the themes and adds to it, its own unique music of drums and bands (Anderson). The important carnival parades in Minas Gerais are mainly held in Ouro Preto, Mariana and Diamantina are three college and historical cities that hold great “street blocks”. Samba is not the only “anthem” of Brazil’s Carnival: Axe is a musical style that these smaller cities adopted. There are also the “trio eletricos”, which are basic parade “trucks” that people follow in the streets with performers on the top of those trucks.
Many people look at the costumes, or lack thereof, during Brazil’s Carnival and see nothing but an excuse to put pretty girls and handsome guys in almost nothing. But, the costumes follow a theme. Each samba school or