Homework

1) What is the carnaval?

R/ Carnival is an international festival, a tradition practiced in many
European countries and in almost all the countries of the American
continent. This celebration basically consists of people who participate in it
disguise, use masks, and take to the streets in the midst of colorful crowds
and multitudinous parades where imagination and creativity have no equal.
Carnival is a festival that varies in the calendar, according to how the holy
week is located, which is also variable on the date it is performed, the
carnival is exactly 40 (forty) days before the holy week, So it is done between
February and March.

2) Describes: a) Battle of Flores.

b) Great stop.
R/ a) The Battle of Flores: Is a parade of floats, comparsas, groups of
dances and disguises; The parade is presided over by the float of the Queen
who dances and throws flowers at the spectators, accompanied by a great
group of princes and princesses.

b) Great stop : The second day of Carnival, Sunday of Carnival, is the

Parade of the Great Stop, played by the popular dances of the Torito, the
Garabato, the pilanderas and the cumbia, dance in which indigenous
elements, black And white. The most important event on the second day of
the Barranquilla Carnival is the "Great Parade of Tradition and Folklore",
where for more than six hours and along the Cumbadicromo of Via 40, some
200 cumbias, Congo dances, of relationship and indigenous, as well as
comparsas of tradition, captivate with their joy and beautiful costumes.

3) Talk abaut the main dances

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 1

DANCE OF THE CONGO

The most traditional dance of the Barranquilla Carnival. It is born as a group

of dancing warriors better known as "negros". It originates in Africa, arrives
in Barranquilla by the channel of the Dique and begins in the Festival of La
Candelaria in Cartagena. It is a warrior dance, it is formed by pairs and they
are accompanied by a group of animal costumes with showy and colorful
masks, and a group of musicians that include a drum, a guacharaca, palmas,
a singer and a choir.

DANCE TORITO

The Torito Dance of the Carnival of Barranquilla was born on January 20,
1878 at the hands of a 12 year old boy, Elas Fontalvo Jimnez, in response
to the fact that because of his young age he was not allowed to participate in
El Danza Toro Grande, so he decided to create his own group accompanied
by a group of friends, calling the group Danza El Torito. Its foundation was
in Commerce Street (today 34) and Concordia and Hospital races (33 and
35). In the year 1930, the dance came to the hands of the son of Elas, who
directed it until 1962. From this year until 1970, the group lost some of its
course and strength, although I do not stop to make presence in the carnival.

THE DANCE OF THE GARABATO

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 2

The Dance of the Doodle, with the passage of time, has become very
representative of the Carnival of Barranquilla; Which is no more than a
"natural destiny" since it expresses the opposites of life and death, which
universally constitute symbol and allegory of all carnival. The scribble is a
wooden hook that the coastal peasant uses as a working tool in his field
work, while machetea clearing the undergrowth.

DANCE OF THE COYONGOS

The coyongo is a wading bird of the banks of the river Magdalena, in the
process of extinction. The dance dates from the year 1812, after the
independence of Colombia. In the Dance of the Coyongos the work of the
birds is narrated when they catch a fish, as well as when the hunter when
hunting these birds. Likewise, it is an allegory in which the hunters are the
Spaniards, the coyongos are the Indians and the fish is the land. The
coyongo has become an important personage of the Barranquilla Carnival.
This dance groups all the birds (coyongo king, duck ccharo, gray heron,
white heron, brown heron, pisingo, among others) that are bet on the shores
of the mallorqun swamp to feed on fish.

DANCING OF GALLINAZOS OR GOLEROS

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 3

The main theme is the survival of the gallinazos. It has as characters the
buzzards, a donkey or dog and a hunter. The dance has dyes of theater,
telling the story of a lazy donkey, abandoned by its owner, a hunter, who is
found by a group of gallinazos or goleros who are ready to eat it. The hunter
wakes up decides to save him and with the help of his weapon, kills the
buzzards.

DANCE OF ARLEQUIN DEVILS

The Harlequin Devil Dance is a Hispanic dance. The Dances of Diablos had
their first exhibitions as a reflection of the European cultural demand in the
old popular and religious celebrations of the towns of Bolivar, Magdalena
and Cesar.
In the Devil Dance Harlequins jump across their legs and turn their arms
back, juggling the bottles without knocking them down. The triumph of the
dancer is to achieve to launch long distance the flare. The staging consists of
the masked devils who came to the church carrying on their backs a ram's
hide, with costume jewelry and shreds of mirrors that reflected the sun.

4) Describe the main customs (5) and their meaning.

Among the main customs of the carnival are to go massively to the Reading
of the Bando, which undoubtedly has as meaning the official start of the
carnival of Barranquilla, which begins the season of "precarnavales", during
which are celebrated Various activities like the Coronation of the Queen and
the Guacherna.

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 4

THE READING OF THE BAND

A kind of carnival decree in which the queen chosen with such an occasion,
orders and arranges for the establishment of the empire of joy in the city.
During the reading of the side the queen emits decrees under an authority
that is always evoked, giving official beginning of the celebrations the god
Momo, descendant of Chaos and son of the night ". That is the authority that
is recognized by the queen, and who receives the command to ordain and
reign.

LA GUACHERNA

La Guacherna, was born at the beginning of the 20th century, in the streets
of the traditional Barrio Abajo. The neighbors came out in small groups,
lighted with gas lamps and ran to drum rhythms and cumbias the sector.
In the tour, the Guache was outstanding, a percussion instrument that
produced a sound similar to that of maracas. It was the "Twitter" of the time,
because it served to summon everyone and gave the news of the beginning of
the Carnival Party.
For many years, this tour constituted the preamble of the Carnival of
Barranquilla, but little by little the tradition was lost. At the time, the Eternal
Bride of Barranquilla, Esthercita Forero, said that in her childhood, the
tuning of the drums in the Barrio Abajo always created anxiety, which led

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 5

her in 1974 to recover the tradition, incorporating this parade to the
program Official of the Carnival.
A disguise that is custom and tradition of the carnival is the disguise of the
elephant with monkey name "La Marimonda".

THE MARIMONDA

It is a disguise created by a barranquillero, who, dressed in a jacket and

trousers in reverse, wanted to make fun of the upper class of the time.
It is also custom to drink liquor and to throw water and cornstarch, this
symbolizes with the disguises a kind of pagan tribute, almost that
unconscious by ignorance.
The fact of disguising themselves, to paint the face and to celebrate it is an
act that goes back to the antiquity and there is some evidence that the
Sumerian people already realized this type of festejos 5,000 years ago.
As we know it today, the carnival is a continuation of the ancient Saturnalia,
the Roman festivities celebrated in honor of the Saturn God.
As a result of the expansion of Christianity, it was at its peak that the festival
took on the name of carnival, having as its main motive the farewell of eating
meat and leading a licentious life during the time of Lent.
They were three days of great celebration, in which almost everything was
allowed; Hence one of the reasons for going disguised, cover their faces and
safeguard anonymity.
It is customary after four days of intense rumba to bury or bury Joselito.

DEATH OF JOSELITO

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 6

The Carnival of Barranquilla comes to an end with the death of Joselito
Carnaval, who is the most representative character for being a symbol of joy
and celebration. On Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, beginning Catholic
Lent, Joselito's body is mourned and buried symbolically by the joyful
widows who shared with him his days of rumba.

5) THE KING / THE QUEEN

KING MOMO

King Momo is one of the central characters who preside over several
carnivals in Latin America, mainly in Brazil and in the carnival of
Barranquilla, Colombia. Each carnival has its own King Momo, who is
usually given the keys of the city. In Brazil, traditionally, a tall, fat man is
chosen to play the role. As the King Momo of the Barranquilla carnival, a
man, generally older, is chosen annually, who has been closely linked to the
festival.
Momo, god of derision and jokes in Greek mythology.
Baal, according to mythology means master or lord; Also Prince, Lord of the
Earth and Rider of the Clouds, Lord of Destruction. He is represented by
wearing a horned helmet so he is closely related to the bull and is usually
depicted with that animal. It is no coincidence that one of the emblematic
images of the carnival of Barranquilla is the torito.

THE QUEEN

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 7

The Carnival Queen of Barranquilla is designated annually to preside the
carnival of the city.
The designation is done annually by the Board of Directors of the Carnival
Foundation of Barranquilla, official entity that organizes the Carnival, and is
promulgated in the second half of the year, often in the months of August or
September.

BLEIDER ALEXANDER BARRIOS E. pg. 8