São Paulo – A group of 2,800 people should sing a samba in honour of Marrakech, Morocco, this week in Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state. The city in the North African Arab country is the theme of the parade song of samba school Embaixada Copa Lord, to have its parade next Sunday (14), at 2:15 pm, on Nego Quirido runway, where the parades of the special group of the carnival of Santa Catarina take place.
The president of the school, Antônio José Leopoldo, keeps the details of the parade in secret, but says that it will be very colourful and bright. Leopoldo does not explain how, but says that even the “scent” present in most parts of the city, a mixture of mint and orange, should be present in the Copa Lord carnival.
According to Leopoldo, the school’s community, called Our Lady of Mont Serrat, which includes some 30 to 40 thousand people, already know the tune, which talks about Marrakech. “Art, cinema, magic. Dance and poetry make up the show. It is going to touch everybody, inshallah! Assalamu aleikum, my love”, says part of the chorus, which was written by Celinho da Copa Lord, Edu Aguiar and Wagner Segura. The carnival choreographer is Marcio Schutz.
“Marrakech…The Fantastic Magic World in the Land of the Setting Sun”, as the tune is called, speaks about the sun in the city, which brings it out, making its sea, temples, palaces and dunes shine. “The scent is good. Recalling orange blossom. An oasis I saw arise. From apricots,” says the second chorus. The tune also recalls the serpent charmers and the mint tea smell, drunk everywhere.
Leopoldo makes a point of keeping the parade floats secret, but reveals that one of them will be dedicated to Moroccan magician, Baby Dahan. The magician has already been in Florianópolis a few times, helping organise a magic festival, and he should be present on the float. Among the costumes to be worn by those in the parade are sultan, warrior monk, lute player and serpent enchanter costumes. Other costumes include themes like the Setting Sun, Menara Garden or Nights of Marrakech.
The Moroccan theme was a suggestion of the governor of Santa Catarina, Luiz Henrique da Silveira. After his suggestion, there was a raffle to decide which school in the state would adopt the theme, and it was granted to Copa Lord. Last year, Leopoldo, in the company of the carnival choreographer at the school and composer Celinho travelled to the Arab country to do research and develop their parade based on the "Marrakech" theme.
*Translated by Mark Ament
