Abstract
In the 2022 carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the first to take back the city streets after the COVID-19 pandemic, the spectacular creativity of the samba schools emerged in themes of protest, of affirmation of black thought and the critique of racism and religious intolerance. In this “deeply black” carnival, Grande Rio, the victorious school of Grupo Especial, took to the parade at Sapucaí avenue the theme “Fala, Majeté! Sete chaves de Exu” [Speak, Majeté! Seven keys of Esu]. Following Simas’s (2019) suggestion of avoiding a dull reading of the politics staged on the avenue, and taking seriously the “delirium” of the performance in the parade, I turn to the poeticity of the narrative of Grande Rio’s plot in the book Abre-alas, then focus on the opening performance of the carnival parade and the encounter with the televised parade in a macumba house in Rio de Janeiro, opening the engagement with the performance to other realms beyond the carnival parade. I thus aim to pursue the restless potency of the school’s performance, as it seeks to open a space for a counter-colonial revelry.
Keywords:
performance; esu; GRES Grande Rio; carnaval