00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 This is the final edition of the parade of traditional customs
00:26 here in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:28 This is the day that all the main characters
00:31 and iconic figures of the carnival
00:33 come out in this party of color, music, and also this joy.
00:38 This is the way we start Carnival Times,
00:41 a show for Tell Us Your English.
00:43 I'm your host, Gladys Guerzara.
00:45 And now we start knowing about another story of carnival
00:48 from around our continent.
00:50 Let's see.
00:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:54 The port of Spain officially welcomes carnival with the yuve,
00:59 a party that breaks the silence of the early morning.
01:02 After the Trinidadian emancipation in 1834,
01:07 the yuve, which translates from the French
01:09 as the dawn of a new day, heralds the fun of these two
01:14 days before the religious celebration of land.
01:17 Both the yuve and the carnival are
01:20 conquests of their ancestors before the abuses
01:23 of the British masters.
01:25 That is why they keep and enjoy them as their own right.
01:29 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:30 Yuve is an integral part of carnival.
01:32 This is where the bacchanal starts.
01:35 It's part of my culture.
01:37 So we partake in it.
01:39 And plus, if you go back in history,
01:42 it's a part of a rebellious kind of action
01:45 against what we were experiencing
01:47 and still experiencing today.
01:49 Many of them do a pilgrimage behind the bands,
01:52 turning the city into a sort of archipelago
01:56 of itinerant parties.
01:58 These tracks provide music, security, food, and drink
02:02 to those who hire their services.
02:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:08 Well, this is yuve, yuve morning.
02:11 And we normally play with friends on the road.
02:13 My whole family played friends on the road, right?
02:16 And we just love friends on the road.
02:18 And this is friends on the road outfit.
02:21 And we come here on Carnival Monday
02:25 to have a good time, to be safe, and to enjoy ourselves.
02:29 Partygoers cover themselves with mud, cocoa,
02:32 with oil, or pigments.
02:35 Their ancestors did so in order to protect themselves
02:38 from the sun the next morning or from mosquitoes.
02:42 This tradition is still maintained.
02:45 The band is Coco Devils.
02:47 So you go, and you get covered in plain cocoa.
02:50 Yuve is a festival.
02:52 So we get a little messy, right?
02:53 We throw mud, paint, oil, chocolate, all kind of stuff.
02:57 So you don't want to get it in your hair.
02:58 So you've got to play mass on Monday,
03:00 Tuesday to cover yourself up, protect your phones.
03:03 You don't want water damage.
03:04 There might be a water truck.
03:05 So you just really cover yourself up
03:06 and have a little bit of fun.
03:08 The hula balloon decreases but does not cease with the dawn.
03:12 Seeing the spoils, it seems the streets of Porto, Spain
03:16 have witnessed a battle with one of colors and movement.
03:21 With the rising of the sun, the Yuve dissolves.
03:23 And so the real carnival begins.
03:26 For Telesur, a special envoy to Trinidad and Tobago,
03:30 Gladys Quezada.
03:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:35 One of the main characteristics of this parade
03:40 is the loyalty of everyone to a band.
03:42 Yes, they come in here and assemble a group,
03:45 they choose the costumes and the topic.
03:47 And finally, they gather to parade.
03:49 This and other features are the main joys of the carnival
03:53 and the beauty of this festivity.
03:55 Let's go to see other stories.
03:58 In carnival time, one of the most representative
04:00 neighborhoods that provides with its characters, creativity,
04:04 and folklore is the town known as Barrio Abajo.
04:08 Here, Telesur meet the group of comparsas Okuma dance,
04:11 whose members are preparing with their makeup and dresses
04:14 for the big parade of comparsas along Via 40,
04:18 spreading with their expression of dance, music,
04:21 and other artistic creation, whose court honors
04:24 the Afro spirit.
04:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:28 Well, the name means in the north of Nigeria dance,
04:32 and in the south, passion.
04:34 It took me time to find a name to connect
04:36 with what we are expressing, dancing as a legacy
04:39 to the African race.
04:40 Because what we do has to do with work, beliefs,
04:44 and everything we express in the comparsa.
04:47 My intention is to make comparsa a real African comparsa.
04:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:53 Their final act will take place here
04:55 in front of more than 5,000 spectators
04:57 in one of the most attractive moving shows of the Barranquilla
05:00 Carnival, giving its color, strength, and performance
05:04 with the participation of 112 folkloric groups,
05:07 including traditional and fantasy groups,
05:09 such as this company that pays homage
05:11 to a well-known human rights activist with its comparsa.
05:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:17 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:19 Miriam Makeba was an African woman, activist,
05:22 who fought for the freedom of African people.
05:25 And we wanted to pay tribute to her.
05:27 It's called the Montage Makeba, a sunset in freedom,
05:30 in tribute to Miriam Makeba.
05:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:34 After being in this colorful and folkloric act--
05:37 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:40 --in the evening, Telesur went to the most important activity
05:43 of our tradition in this carnival, the Litanies.
05:46 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:48 --activity that, with funny verses,
05:54 gives an overview of the social and political reality
05:57 of the country and the world.
05:59 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
06:08 Litanies are verse with a lot of double meaning,
06:11 with a joy that represents the carnival of Barranquilla.
06:15 The Litanies have been for many years.
06:17 And we are in charge of making them look like many chorus,
06:22 and that everything goes according to the words we say.
06:25 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
06:28 This closes the third day of folkloric activities
06:30 in Barranquilla, now in its last day of pagan festivities.
06:34 The streets of La Arenosa will say goodbye
06:37 to the carnival with the funeral honors.
06:39 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
06:41 And just for you to know, there is no limit
06:46 to take part in this parade.
06:48 You can be from anywhere in the world, have any skin color.
06:52 You can have any background, any origin, any gender.
06:56 And you could be here taking part
06:58 in this beautiful and this gorgeous parade.
07:02 This is the reality of the carnival.
07:04 This is integration.
07:05 This is coming together for the rejoicable of being alive.
07:09 That is the motto of the carnival.
07:12 And from this party, let's go to another one.
07:14 Let's see what has to say the other of my colleagues.
07:17 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
07:21 Paula is an educator.
07:23 But at carnival time, she becomes a dress worker,
07:26 and her house into a sewing workshop for a month.
07:29 Every night before the carnival, a production line
07:31 that manufactures the dresses and outfits with feathers,
07:35 glitter, and lines for the parade.
07:38 For more than 20 years, she has made fantasies
07:40 because every carnival has its fantasies.
07:44 There are icons like the madamas, the medias pintas.
07:48 Among them are also the fantasies.
07:51 We are within that line.
07:55 They sew by hand the design that we're
07:56 custom made for each fantasy parade participant.
08:01 The process of taking the measure
08:03 choose the pattern, the selection of the fabric.
08:05 When the cutting table is done, we cut, I assemble the piece.
08:10 And from here, they go to the ornament and decoration room.
08:15 The helmets are also carefully made.
08:17 And each one is assigned to the dancers afterward.
08:20 They will be decorated with lights,
08:24 peacock feathers, and everything needed
08:26 to achieve the aim of making them look elegant and opulent.
08:30 The final stage is the decoration with sequins, glitter,
08:33 and 35 costumes for 35 people on a stage.
08:37 Going unnoticed is not the goal.
08:39 We are in charge of decorating each of the suits.
08:44 The one this year is a jumpsuit.
08:46 The sewing comes from there.
08:48 And we are in charge of designing, attaching,
08:53 and also the overlay.
08:55 Then we color beads.
08:58 Thank God we have a pretty big team.
09:00 And we have the team of the people's queen,
09:05 who helps us too.
09:07 Our real work is to decorate and beautify
09:10 every one of the things used by the people who dress
09:13 in the Calvario fantasies.
09:15 A little dancer shows us the final result.
09:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:27 We are artisans.
09:28 We start from scratch.
09:30 We make everything.
09:31 We build everything.
09:33 We are the artisans.
09:35 We go from the initial sketch making, creating, assembly,
09:39 until we have a final result.
09:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:44 But the costumes do not come to life
09:48 until they are on stage, on the street,
09:50 amidst the loud music, and in the enthusiasm
09:52 of the collective dance, accepting photographs
09:54 and praise from friends and strangers.
09:57 Paula is satisfied.
09:58 The Callao Carnival has its fantasy.
10:00 Excellent.
10:04 We always thank God we have a good receipt.
10:07 And year after year, we have exceeded the expectations.
10:10 And this is another step ahead of us.
10:14 I have goosebumps seeing this.
10:17 This is what I was talking to you about,
10:19 seeing this creation.
10:21 Really, really, I don't even have words.
10:25 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
10:27 This comparsa pays tribute to Edda Marskman,
10:30 one of the cultural references of Callao,
10:33 who died in 2020, a promoter of Calypso.
10:36 She participated in the fantasy parade,
10:38 promoted the carnival and its history.
10:41 In every fantasy parade, they also tribute her work.
10:45 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
10:47 This parade takes one year to get done,
10:53 because all of the production, all the color, the costumes,
10:56 and the order they have to put.
10:59 But that doesn't matter.
11:00 It's totally worth it for the people of Trinidad and Tobago,
11:03 because this is their iconic identity.
11:06 This is what they are--
11:08 party, carnival, and joy.
11:10 From here, I'm announcing all of the stories of carnival
11:14 from the Caribbean and Latin American countries.
11:17 Let's see.
11:19 This table contains the evolution
11:21 of almost a century of Devil's Mask.
11:24 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
11:26 This carnival is not only from the colonial period,
11:28 as understood since the appearance
11:30 of the Virgin Our Lady of the SocavĂłn in 1739.
11:33 But it is a process that may come before.
11:37 La Diablada is the origin of the Urugu carnival.
11:40 Its root predates Spanish colonialism.
11:42 The Urugu worships and deities like the sun, the moon,
11:45 lightning.
11:46 They had Wari, a sorcerer who guided them
11:48 towards evil and hatred.
11:50 But in Yusta, a young girl made him see their mistake.
11:54 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
11:56 Wari, who had personified himself in a sorcerer
11:59 to teach them the path of evil, hate, sorcery,
12:02 once the Urugu dissolving Wari.
12:03 Wari gets angry, and that's why he sends them these plagues.
12:08 Defeated, Wari was sent to the depths of the earth,
12:10 where he is revealed as the uncle of the mind.
12:14 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
12:16 He is the owner of the veins.
12:18 We ask him with our respect day by day
12:20 to take care of us, to give us a good heart, good veins.
12:24 With our respect, we are entering your house
12:26 so that you take care of us.
12:28 Because in mining, you don't know if when you go in,
12:32 you are going to come out again.
12:35 On Carnival Friday, tribute is paid
12:37 to the uncle of the mind, the devil.
12:39 They invite him alcohol, coke, and cigars
12:41 that he consumes with pleasure.
12:43 Outside, wine flames are sacrificed,
12:45 which have their steel-beating heart removed and thrown
12:48 into the drain.
12:50 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
12:53 These original indigenous who were not miners,
12:55 forcibly converted into miners, decide
12:57 to make their own god with the mud from the mine, which
13:01 is very wet.
13:02 The clay from the mine, they make a figurine,
13:05 but in human form.
13:06 Spanish colonialism provided indigenous rights to its deities.
13:12 Then, they rescued them and took the advantage of them
13:15 to evangelize.
13:16 They changed Wally for the devil and the young Yusta
13:18 for the Virgin of Candelaria, who sent the archangel Gabriel
13:21 to fight the demons, defeated them,
13:23 and confined them to the depths of the earth.
13:25 This pilgrimage is a promise to offer through dance,
13:32 through dance, our gratitude, our strength,
13:34 and our faith in the love for the Virgin,
13:36 happy to get to your feet.
13:39 Here, angels and demons dance together and prostrate
13:41 before the image of the Virgin of the Socavon.
13:46 We left at 2 in the morning, and now it is 8 in the morning.
13:50 If I'm not wrong, and with faith,
13:52 we have arrived at the feet of the Virgin.
13:54 There are 20 dances that are presented
13:59 in the Oruro Carnival.
14:01 This year, the parade was long for 24 hours.
14:04 More than 50,000 dancers and 20,000 musicians participated,
14:08 and more than 300,000 tourists.
14:10 The Oruro Carnival is a masterpiece
14:11 of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.
14:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:18 And like this, with this hot day, this midday sun,
14:22 but also these warm people in this beautiful parade,
14:25 we are saying goodbye to this emission of carnival time.
14:29 I'm your host, Gladys Quezada.
14:31 Remember to follow us in our socials.
14:33 And yes, we are saying goodbye, but just for now, bye-bye.
14:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:41 [CRICKETS CHIRPING]
14:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:48 [CRICKETS CHIRPING]
14:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:55 (upbeat music)
14:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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