Candombe!

Carnival has begun in Uruguay! It was officially kicked off last Sunday with a grandiose parade of women in tiny, revealing outfits and men decked from head to toe in creative hats and suits of many colors. It was 5 1/2 hours of singing, dancing and of course familiar rhythms from the drums.

People practice year-round for the festivities and competitions of Carnival that occur before Ash Wednesday and carry through the Catholic Lent season. After the kick-off parade on Sunday, February 1st, stages were erected around the city in various neighborhoods and now each night you can buy tickets to go see one of the many competing Murgas, Parodistas, Revistas or Humoristas. In the next blog entry I do I´ll try to explain a little about each of those traditional groups but for now I'd like to dedicate the rest of the blog to another important tradition of Carnival here in Uruguay that also happens to be my favorite, "las llamadas" (translated, "the calls").

"Las llamadas" is a massive parade during Carnival in which different "Comparsas" compete through dance and drums to win. The comparsas are made up of individuals from different neighborhoods and states within the country. The rhythm they play is called "Candombe" and is a musical tradition that evolved among the African slaves brought to Uruguay. The rhythm played on the tambores ( drums) was their way of communicating with each other and defying the colonialists.

Although it is an Afro-Uruguayan tradition whith costumes and characters that reflect origins of the slave trade, many of the participants are not of Afro descent. In my photos you'll see some of these costumes and different characters, there is the the Mama Vieja (Grandmother), Gramillero (Old Doctor), and Escobero (Wizard). You will also see the dancers who dance in their infamously small costumes...
For more history check out this website:

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1145/48/