“I opened the door to my apartment building, and instead of hearing the usual street sounds, I was knocked backwards by a wall of sound pulsating from the night city.”
That line alone was enough of an invitation to relive and enjoy the carnival with you!
Having just passed through Carnival in Sitges, I can attest it is like Halloween, Fourth of July, and Gay Pride all rolled up into one. (Except that we also have Saint Joan for fireworks, and actual Pride in June.) Despite all that, it is only just now occurring to me after reading - "Mikhail Bakhtin, who’d used the term “carnivalesque” to “characterise writing that depicts the de-stabilisation or reversal of power structures, albeit temporarily, as happens in traditional forms of carnival” - that the parallels with the Dionysian mysteries/Bacchae are unmistakable. Thanks to you... :)
This week, late as is often the case in the catholic schools I work in, we are celebrating this colourful event with disguises, one song and a walk, two-by-two to 'la Maison de Retraite' at the far end of the village, it is a sombre affair carried our entirely for the benefit of the elders therein... it couldn't be less like the excitement and noise you describe in this essay.
So a huge smile from me, I have obviously been attending the wrong type of carnival!
Wow, Susie, that's quite a contrast! And you sound a bit like Mauriac…🙂 But perhaps the event will be remembered in later life as special by the children?
I hope so, during the Covid days we adapted the whole show as a parade around the village, there were more songs and dancing too, half the village tagged along and those elderlies that were able came too, it seemed much more like a carnival then. If my voice had any clout to it I would suggest continuing - sadly it doesn’t !
A superb ending to piece, Jeffery. I appreciate how you let us see views change by the end of the piece. It offered a sense of resolution.
Also, I really enjoyed this line:
“But it’s not an old entry in the Guinness Book of Records that will live in the hearts and bodies of those who were there, but the unique sense of togetherness, even of hope, that carnival inspired in us.”
Wow, what fabulous memories and you write of course, as eloquently as always. And thank you for sharing the beautiful artwork and music! Good morning Jeffrey.
There are a good amount of delightful lines from you here, "Before that, I’d self-consciously shuffled to 80s pop in rooms or clubs while at university, without much skill or rapture." Rapture being such a wonderful word for how music overtakes people.
Then followed by, "But this communal joy was different. It wasn’t about individual dancers. It was a collective rhapsody of movement."
I loved that you disregarded the dictionary definitions 🧐 for the freedom of dance by joining the crowds on the street! Now, there would have been a sight to see! 🕺
Thank you, Lani! I'm so glad that you enjoyed this. The whole spectacle of carnival in Tenerife was certainly a sight to see! But my dancing was another kind of spectacle... 😅
Many years ago, I read a vivid description of Carnival in Rome in what was an otherwise bland Victorian era book for girls, titled 'What Katy Did Next'. The description stayed with me, and I was intrigued to find that Dickens gives a similarly vivid description of the Roman Carnival in 'Pictures from Italy'. Both books left me with the impression that Rome was the place to be for Carnival, though perhaps in the 150 or so years since they were written, the Roman scene may have faded somewhat.
I'm sure the Romans do carnival well! Though Venice also, from what I've heard. But Tenerife is the only celebration I've been to (making pancakes on Throve Tuesday in England somehow doesn't compare).
Loved this, Jeffrey. There’s nothing remotely like this in frozen Minnesota. Fewer people every year participate in the tame St. Paul Winter Carnival, but that takes place in January. (F. Scott Fitzgerald — hometown boy — wrote a great short story called “The Ice Palace” which is not exactly celebratory. It’s intense). Our big excitement is the Minnesota State Fair, twelve days at the end of August and early September, attracting more than a million people each day, in a state with a population of just over six million. Butter sculptures! Baby goats! Obviously not the same. Thank you for sharing your story of the joy of a real celebration, the music, art, and your participation in the spectacle. BTW, I’m sure you’re a fine dancer.
Thank you, Mary! I remember you writing about the Minnesota State Fair, which sounds like a huge event. As for dancing, I wish I was exhibiting false modesty, but alas...
I was born during carnival! Gianduia, Colombina and other classic Italian "maschere" came to the hospital to welcome me into this world, or so I'm said.
Fantastic text, Jeff! I loved this sentence, "... and it was like dancing for the first time.", which makes me think of how almost every ecstatic pleasure in life feels new, definitive, and boundless.
Wow, this is so fun, expansive, freeing Jeffrey. I felt your newfound expressiveness just in reading it. A perfect example of “there is no slander in an allowed fool.” Fool with a capital F. The kind that embraces new beginnings, takes risks, and loves a good adventure.:)
Today ~ oblivious to the 'desfiles de carnaval' celebrated locally ~ leaving the notary's office in town, we bumped into a procession of a few hundred kids from local schools, all dressed up as bumblebees, Snowwhites, Cowboys, little mexicanos, etc. in preparation for the 'big carnival procession' on Shrove Tuesday.
In a mountain village in Central Portugal it won't be anything near as rapturous as the Carnival in Tenerife you experienced, Jeffrey, but I'll be thinking of you and Celia Cruz 🙏 🎶 ♪ ♬ 💃
It also provides a FANTASTIC method to ( sort of ) purge negativity out of one's system before programming / reprogramming oneself to be properly PIOUS at least superficially.
AMISH YOUTH get a chance to get all the sin out of their system before deciding to make a lifelong commitment to the lifestyle, IIRC. It sounds not unlike " Spring Break ". 🥳💃
“I opened the door to my apartment building, and instead of hearing the usual street sounds, I was knocked backwards by a wall of sound pulsating from the night city.”
That line alone was enough of an invitation to relive and enjoy the carnival with you!
Thank you, Yi! It was really quite an experience to feel the music in that way.
Having just passed through Carnival in Sitges, I can attest it is like Halloween, Fourth of July, and Gay Pride all rolled up into one. (Except that we also have Saint Joan for fireworks, and actual Pride in June.) Despite all that, it is only just now occurring to me after reading - "Mikhail Bakhtin, who’d used the term “carnivalesque” to “characterise writing that depicts the de-stabilisation or reversal of power structures, albeit temporarily, as happens in traditional forms of carnival” - that the parallels with the Dionysian mysteries/Bacchae are unmistakable. Thanks to you... :)
I hope you enjoyed those Dionysian mysteries, Troy!
Yes to communal joy! 😁
Indeed!
This week, late as is often the case in the catholic schools I work in, we are celebrating this colourful event with disguises, one song and a walk, two-by-two to 'la Maison de Retraite' at the far end of the village, it is a sombre affair carried our entirely for the benefit of the elders therein... it couldn't be less like the excitement and noise you describe in this essay.
So a huge smile from me, I have obviously been attending the wrong type of carnival!
Wow, Susie, that's quite a contrast! And you sound a bit like Mauriac…🙂 But perhaps the event will be remembered in later life as special by the children?
I hope so, during the Covid days we adapted the whole show as a parade around the village, there were more songs and dancing too, half the village tagged along and those elderlies that were able came too, it seemed much more like a carnival then. If my voice had any clout to it I would suggest continuing - sadly it doesn’t !
A superb ending to piece, Jeffery. I appreciate how you let us see views change by the end of the piece. It offered a sense of resolution.
Also, I really enjoyed this line:
“But it’s not an old entry in the Guinness Book of Records that will live in the hearts and bodies of those who were there, but the unique sense of togetherness, even of hope, that carnival inspired in us.”
:)
Thank you, Michael! I really appreciate your reading and your comments.
Wow, what fabulous memories and you write of course, as eloquently as always. And thank you for sharing the beautiful artwork and music! Good morning Jeffrey.
Thank you, Maureen, and good morning from a rather wet Tokyo. Yes, those are great memories ad it was fun to think back on those time.
There are a good amount of delightful lines from you here, "Before that, I’d self-consciously shuffled to 80s pop in rooms or clubs while at university, without much skill or rapture." Rapture being such a wonderful word for how music overtakes people.
Then followed by, "But this communal joy was different. It wasn’t about individual dancers. It was a collective rhapsody of movement."
I loved that you disregarded the dictionary definitions 🧐 for the freedom of dance by joining the crowds on the street! Now, there would have been a sight to see! 🕺
Thank you, Lani! I'm so glad that you enjoyed this. The whole spectacle of carnival in Tenerife was certainly a sight to see! But my dancing was another kind of spectacle... 😅
I’m sure you were adorable!
Many years ago, I read a vivid description of Carnival in Rome in what was an otherwise bland Victorian era book for girls, titled 'What Katy Did Next'. The description stayed with me, and I was intrigued to find that Dickens gives a similarly vivid description of the Roman Carnival in 'Pictures from Italy'. Both books left me with the impression that Rome was the place to be for Carnival, though perhaps in the 150 or so years since they were written, the Roman scene may have faded somewhat.
I'm sure the Romans do carnival well! Though Venice also, from what I've heard. But Tenerife is the only celebration I've been to (making pancakes on Throve Tuesday in England somehow doesn't compare).
Loved this, Jeffrey. There’s nothing remotely like this in frozen Minnesota. Fewer people every year participate in the tame St. Paul Winter Carnival, but that takes place in January. (F. Scott Fitzgerald — hometown boy — wrote a great short story called “The Ice Palace” which is not exactly celebratory. It’s intense). Our big excitement is the Minnesota State Fair, twelve days at the end of August and early September, attracting more than a million people each day, in a state with a population of just over six million. Butter sculptures! Baby goats! Obviously not the same. Thank you for sharing your story of the joy of a real celebration, the music, art, and your participation in the spectacle. BTW, I’m sure you’re a fine dancer.
Thank you, Mary! I remember you writing about the Minnesota State Fair, which sounds like a huge event. As for dancing, I wish I was exhibiting false modesty, but alas...
I was born during carnival! Gianduia, Colombina and other classic Italian "maschere" came to the hospital to welcome me into this world, or so I'm said.
My elder sister even tried to feed me a candy,
An auspicious time to be born!
Fantastic text, Jeff! I loved this sentence, "... and it was like dancing for the first time.", which makes me think of how almost every ecstatic pleasure in life feels new, definitive, and boundless.
Thank you, Viktor. Lovely to hear from you! And I like the way you put it—yes, the whole experience felt boundless.
Wow, this is so fun, expansive, freeing Jeffrey. I felt your newfound expressiveness just in reading it. A perfect example of “there is no slander in an allowed fool.” Fool with a capital F. The kind that embraces new beginnings, takes risks, and loves a good adventure.:)
Thank you, Kimberly. I probably need to relearn some of those lessons. Important lessons need to be learnt more than once, I feel.
Today ~ oblivious to the 'desfiles de carnaval' celebrated locally ~ leaving the notary's office in town, we bumped into a procession of a few hundred kids from local schools, all dressed up as bumblebees, Snowwhites, Cowboys, little mexicanos, etc. in preparation for the 'big carnival procession' on Shrove Tuesday.
In a mountain village in Central Portugal it won't be anything near as rapturous as the Carnival in Tenerife you experienced, Jeffrey, but I'll be thinking of you and Celia Cruz 🙏 🎶 ♪ ♬ 💃
It may not be a grand event, but I'm sure it will be fun, Veronika! I hope you get the chance to join in the dancing! 💃
It also provides a FANTASTIC method to ( sort of ) purge negativity out of one's system before programming / reprogramming oneself to be properly PIOUS at least superficially.
AMISH YOUTH get a chance to get all the sin out of their system before deciding to make a lifelong commitment to the lifestyle, IIRC. It sounds not unlike " Spring Break ". 🥳💃
Thank you for your comment, Daniel. I wasn't aware of that custom in the Amish community.