At Hamilton International Middle School we got to create our own Carnaval! First we learned about Carnaval and Mardi Gras celebrations in other parts of the world – especially Brazil.

We got to try Capoeira with Marcos Nascimiento. To get ready we stretched and did 20 push-ups. After we were warmed up, Marcos had us do some moves with our arms and legs – then try Au, the Capoeira version of a cartwheels. He showed us a berimbau – the special instrument they use in Capoeira.

Bianca Mendonca taught us really awesome samba reggae dance moves – mostly with complicated leg moves. We also did shimmy shakes. That was a little embarrassing. Bianca grew up in Bahia, Brazil and started dancing when she was very young.

Eduardo Mendonca, Bianca’s dad, taught us about Brazilian percussion. We divided into groups with different instruments – like surdo drums and agogo bells and tambourines. We had to follow the beats of our group. Eduardo blew his whistle to give us directions.

Students in 7th grade Spanish classes built lanterns with vibrant colors representing Oaxaca, Mexico. In Mexico they light the lanterns and dance around with puppets. Fulgencio Lazo, the artist from Oaxaca, who helped us make the lanterns, tells us:

Sometimes they are huge sometimes small, sometimes you know, tiny. And in different shapes. Some people do animals, some people do fruits, so it’s pretty much free. And they have a candle inside. So the idea of the farole is trying to you know, use the lantern to see where you can go and walk because everything is, sometimes it’s dark in different neighborhoods.

Then it was parade day! We got prepared by putting on fabulous masks and getting shakers and maracas. The masks had red, green, yellow, and blue feathers with silver and gold glitter. Some of us had instruments such as red and blue toy buckets with tennis ball mallets, snare drums, surdo drums, agogo bells, and cowbells.

Eduardo Mendonca and Mr. Barilleau led the parade with the musicians. Students held the Mexican lanterns up high so all could see them – but we weren’t allowed to use fire. We went out of the building, across the blacktop, and through the park. It was a cold, sunny morning.

Eduardo’s band, Show Brazil!, was in the parade too. It was difficult to play the drums in the parade because you had to walk and play at the same time. Sometimes when we weren’t playing all together, it sounded like popcorn.

Back in the auditorium, Show Brazil! gave us a cool performance. They played some old beats from Brazil. Bianca danced as the Queen of the River, wearing a long, magnificent headdress and a long, gold dress that sparkled.

I never knew about Carnaval until we did this. Now I can tell other people about the great and wonderful experience I had learning about Brazilian Carnaval.

This experience gave us the opportunity to see what the world is like.

This was a wonderful experience that opened up a whole new world to me. As Eduardo said, Carnaval is one of the best ways to understand what a community is all about.