London, We're Watching You!

As London braves the 2012 Summer Olympics, we're all watching very closely down here in Brazil. Some of us are not watching just for the fun of it either. Since Rio is slated to host the next Summer Olympics, in 2016, everyone who will be involved in that event is watching London's performance extremely competitively. They're watching to see what can be learned from London, they're watching to see what the pitfalls are that they'll have to try to avoid. There's a bit of gloating when it appears that London está pisando na bola — that's Portuguese for screwing up — and people here think they can do better. But Brazil is also quaking in its flip- flops, because Brazil after all is still Brazil. Brazilians, too, have a habit of fumbling the ball from time to time, they have an even worse habit of letting everything go until the last minute (that includes building the appropriate facilities), they, too, have chaotic traffic, and they even have a little violence problem.

Impossible not to have snafus in the course of such a massive event, with so many countries involved, and it's now widespread knowledge that in London the snafus began even before the Games officially started. There were security problems, transportation problems, failed ticket sales and diplomatic gaffes, just to mention some of what's been written about in the press. And then there was that . . . eclectic? . . . Opening Ceremony. Let's see how Brazil's Olympic Organizing Committee might evaluate its challenges in light of London's performance:

A humiliated Nick Buckles, G4S CEO

1. Security — The most serious of London's pre-Games fiascos was the hiring of a security company called G4S, "the world's leading international security solutions group," as their website boasts. Well, I don't know what world they think they lead in, but they didn't come close to delivering on their contractual obligations. Just days before the event the company's CEO announced publicly that he regretted having taken on the Olympics security contract, and agreed that his company's performance had been a "humiliating shambles." Wow. I'm sure Brazil feels it has security covered. The best news they got was that G4S will not compete in the bidding process, either for the 2014 World Cup (also to be held in Brazil) or the 2016 Summer Olympics.

2. Transportation — A couple of bus drivers who didn't know how to navigate the city streets of London got lost on the way from Heathrow Airport to the Athletes' Village? No worries, because on that score Rio probably has the upper hand. Getting all the way across London from Heathrow to the East End is kind of like trying to dribble a soccer ball through your opponent's defenders. For the land of Pele, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino and Neymar, the stretch between Galeão Airport here in Rio and the Olympic Village in Barra da Tijuca — that's a walk in the park.

The only map a Rio bus driver will need

Paulo Barros

3. Opening Ceremony — Okay, we've all Monday-morning-quarterbacked the topic of London's Opening Ceremony. Everyone's got an opinion or a dig. But after watching it, even Brazil's usually circumspect President Dilma immediately said that Brazil could do better. You want a spectacular show with thousands of cast members, lots of music, dancing, costumes, lights and special effects, all to go off without a hitch? Has anyone been to Carnaval here in Brazil? I mean, Brazil's been putting this show on for years. My advice? The Organizing Committee has only to turn to Paulo Barros, the most inventive of the current crop of carnavalescos whose genius would go a long way to making Rio's Opening Ceremony a stunner.

I remember the opinions Mark and I heard from two friends of ours after the 2016 Summer Olympic Games were awarded to Rio. One friend was adamant that the Games will never happen here. "There's no way Brazil will get such a complex event organized," he said. "Mark my words, the IOC will take the Games away from Brazil." But the other friend was unruffled. "No," he said. "The Games will happen here. They'll just happen in Brazil's way." Myself, I'm banking on Brazil.

Carnavalescos

Mosteiro Zen Budista's silent carnaval  

It's carnaval! Get out your masks, your feathers, your boas! Get your tickets to the Sambadrome parades! Pick your favorite street carnaval group and join in! Well, that's one way to celebrate carnaval. But this end-of-summer holiday blowout can be celebrated in many different ways. While it does seem that most Brazilians jump right in with both feet moving to a samba beat, others merely tolerate the crowds and the noise as best they can, relying on ear plugs to get through the nights. Some people travel to a resort and spend their entire holiday week at the beach. A friend of ours uses this time to explore his zen side at the Mosteiro Zen Budista, a retreat in the mountains of Espírito Santo.

Carnaval at the Sambadrome

I myself once thought carnaval was one big, disorganized, loud mess, to be avoided at all costs. I had no idea what a samba school was or what it represented. But when it slowly dawned on me how much like a Broadway musical the carnaval show was I sat up and took notice. (I always did love my Broadway musicals.) Before long I began to see beyond the skimpy costumes and the deafening percussion to the intricate, backstage details. I began to understand the strict rules that regulate the competition. (Yes, this "spectacle" is actually an  aggressively-fought competition.) And as I learned more and more about Rio's carnaval in particular, one personality jumped out front and center, the crucially important carnavalesco. It takes many talented people to stage a Broadway musical: a writer, a producer, a director, a set designer, a costume designer, an art director and a lighting director. But the carnavalesco — with a healthy dash of help — is the samba school's art-set-costume-lighting producer and director all in one.

In the 1930s and 1940s the carnavalescos were usually amateur members of the samba schools they supported. They did the best they could and made up in enthusiasm what they lacked in professionalism. As for payment, they wouldn't accept one centavo. Nowadays? The highly-compensated and extremely professional carnavalesco can work as a hired gun for several samba schools in the course of his career. He's the one who comes up with the school's theme each year, researches it, develops how it is to be organized and presented, and who, along with a team of artists and designers, designs the characters, the costumes, and the accessories. The carnavalesco also works with engineers and architects to build the floats. On the night his school parades, the carnavalesco is responsible for getting all 4,000 or so participants costumed, assembled and down the runway without a hitch, and within the allotted 80 minutes.

Paulo Barros

I know I'm a Johnny-come-lately to carnaval, but my personal favorite carnavalesco is Paulo Barros, a former airline steward. He burst on the scene in 2004 and broke through years of sameness with his now-famous "DNA float," which used people instead of mechanical pieces to represent DNA particles. He went on to astonish the public the following year with jaw-dropping magic tricks no one could figure out, and the next year with heads that seemed to fall off shoulders, only to be replaced with a smile, over and over again. Paulo Barros doesn't always win, but he is always given a standing ovation by the public. And we can't wait to see what this most innovative carnavalesco has in store for this year's extravaganza. (Mind you, we'll be watching on television. I'm done with the Sambadrome.)

Here's a piece of Barros magic from 2010:



And some mystery from the following year: