Saturday, February 25, 2012

¡Qué maravilla es la época de Carnaval!

You may have heard about, or even been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You may not be aware, however, that Spanish-speaking countries have similar celebrations known as Carnaval.  Just like Mardi Gras, Carnaval owes part of its roots to a Catholic tradition. Historically, devout Catholics would fast for the forty days leading up to Easter in spiritual recognition of the sacrifice made by their savior, Jesus.

Christ Carrying the Cross by the Spanish artist, El Greco
 (currently located at The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

This fast is known as Lent and begins every year on a day known as Ash Wednesday. Many modern day Christians observe lent by giving up a particular excess or indulgence such as smoking, drinking, eating meat, consuming sugar, etc. The day before Ash Wednesday is known as Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is important because this is the day before fasting begins and is therefore observed as a "last chance" to indulge before Lent. Mardi Gras and Carnaval celebrations generally begin roughly a week prior to Ash Wednesday, culminating in a huge Fat Tuesday celebration.


photo by pkingDesign via flickr

While the most famous Carnaval celebration is, without a doubt, the celebration held in São Paulo, Brazil, (where Portuguese is the official language), other cities host well-known celebrations in the Spanish Speaking world. They include cities such as Cádiz (Spain), Tenerife (Canary Islands), Ponce (Puerto Rico), and Barranquilla (Colombia). The Carnaval of Baranquilla, Colombia perhaps outshines them all, as it has been proclaimed a World Heritage Event by UNESCO.

If you have time, watch this Spanish television special about the 2011 Carnaval in Baranquilla. (Don't worry if you don't understand the narrator, the visuals are enough!) Judging by the music, dance, costumes, etc., do you think carnaval might have other influences besides Western Catholicism? What might they be?

 If you can't acesss Youtube, watch it here.

7 comments:

  1. One of the influences might involve Dia de los muertos since early on I saw a man dressed up as a skeleton and another dressed like the grim reaper. But overall this seems like a very fun and festive event!

    -James 704

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  2. It seems like this day is all about having fun and expressing yourself. One thing this could also be about is politics. I saw a lot of political colors and one guy was wearing a mask of a political figure. I also noticed lots of people expressing there style. I saw one group that was wearing overalls with a yellow shirt which seemed to be different then the other costumes. They have there own unique style that they can express on this day.I think its also about beauty and color. All the costumes were beautiful colorful and got a point across. I think it was also about just having fun because i noticed there were a lot of clowns and acrobatics. It also shows many different styles of dance and music.

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  3. This is so interesting! It's really cool that an old tradition can evolve to the modern day and still stay strong. It proves how much people care about their religion. Lent and Easter are very important to Catholics. I practice Lent and it is important to my family. It's so fascinating to see how people celebrate their different cultures and religions, and how meaningful these celebrations are.

    -Mikaela K.
    704

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  4. From watching this video, I learned so much about Columbia! It was beautiful how everyone united and celebrated this big occasion for their religion, Ash Wednesday. People dressed in original costumes to express their beliefs and culture. I respect their country so much from watching this because even though we have important holiday's celebrating religion like "Carnival", we don't have one holiday where a large amount of Americans or even New Yorkers come together in a true festival like this one and just express who they are. It was brave how so many people committed to their costumes and showed who they were. The video was truly interesting and beautiful to watch! Thanks for sharing!

    - Emily Zimmerman 703

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  5. This celebration seems almost like Mardi Gras and Dia de Los Muertos mixed together. I say this because they both have religious connotations and are both very festive. One more thing is that it seems like in Mexican countries they celebrate their religious events much more flamboyantly then in America
    Harold D.
    704

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  6. This event and celebration looks like an amazing way to celebrate culture in a fun way! It was nice how everyone was united together in this event, celebrating together. These people are exceptional and its awesome how much they care about showing the world who they are and what they believe. I think that it would be wonderful to travel to Columbia and to see this event in person! I wish that America had an event similar to this where you can express yourself. I noticed how much bright color they used in this carnival, maybe this connects somehow to another part of their religion. Im looking forward to learning more about the culture of these amazing people!

    -Theodora H. 702

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  7. This celebration seems so festive, and fun, while also celebrating the countries culture and history. Compared to America i believe Mexican countries celebrate their holidays more extravagantly than America does, taking it to a whole other level, and really getting everybody enveloped in the events,

    - Catherine Kreider

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