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Interview with Nicolas Fabre

Allez Samba Rio takes you behind the scenes of Nicolas Fabre’s passion: The Rio Carnival.

Allez Samba Rio: When did your passion for Brazil start? And why?

Being always passionate about geography, I was attracted quite early by Brazil. Some movies like The Man from Rio (which I recommend to watch before going to Rio at the Jardim Botânico) must have certainly contributed to this.

Musically speaking also became passionate quite early by the Bossa Nova, then Carlinhos Brown, Daniela Mercury or Funk’n lata, Trio Mocoto and through the group of Max Cavalera Sepultura.

After 2000, I managed to get an album, “Ao Vivo Carnaval”, from the 1998 edition of the Rio Carnival. It was my first contact with the samba even if I think I have some sambas of recording from 1993 and 1995.

Then there was the Fashion Tv channel that broadcasted the carnival. and I could see some editions. Afterwards, I lived for 5 years on the Brazilian border in French Guiana and visited Amazonia. In November 2013, I took the plunge to do a triptych: Rio de Janeiro, Iguacu, Salvador de Bahia. That’s when I was able to go for the first time to a “quadra” of a samba school. It was Sao Clemente, quite family, but I took a bang. From there, the opportunity presented itself thanks to my friend Youssouf residing there to come back for the Rio 2014 carnival since I have not stopped…. Carnival and Botafogo became my neighborhood.

Allez Samba Rio: What do you like about the Rio Carnival?

I like the Rio Carnival in a double way. The first I have the chance to be present a month or so before the carnival and therefore I can attend various events related to the preparations. They are varied: street and quadra tests, through the intimate rehearsals in sector 11, or the shootings of the Globo à la cidade do samba. Thus I can live at the very heart of the commitment of the Cariocas for their carnival and their love for samba and its poetry.

The second is D-Day, the day of the parades, an indescribable sensation that invades me because the schools reveal themselves. The richness of the costumes, the inventiveness of the carnivals, the total joy of the participants and the total emotions, we cannot remain insensitive to these emotions where literally the inhabitants of the community vibrate at the entrance of the Sapucai. Some moments remain forever etched in my memory and yet they are complete strangers.

The finesse of execution of the work on the floats, the wild dancers to the rhythms of the bateria and its sonic power with the sambas that make vibrate the stadium and the general joy…. We must recognize that the Brazilian carnival is the Rio carnival.

Finally, originality and renewal, every school is different and every year the carnival is a renewal! So I go back every year with the same intensity and that fever that starts when the theme sambas begin to come out (in November).

Allez Samba Rio: Have you ever parade? If so, with which samba school?

Not ever because I do not see myself accumulating photos of parades and parading. It’s quite sporty. We start at 9 am and we finish at 5 or 6 am for four days in a row walking around the avenida without stopping …. But I admit I thought about it.

Allez Samba Rio: When you want to parade you tell us and we will organize everything for you. Otherwise what do you like to do when you are in Rio?

I had already visited Rio for the first time in 2013, walking around the city. Now the activities turn around the carnival of course, with some moments of rest at the beach and some walks especially on the views of the city. Moreover, I try to complete my visit of unusual tourist places. I love walking the streets of the city, Rio is humming, feels, there are certainly monuments, but Rio remains above all its inhabitants and their costume delusions in the “blocos de rua” too.

In addition, I don’t hesitate to take a few French tourists on a trip to discover the other side of the carnival.

Allez Samba Rio:What is your website and why did you create it?

My site is https://carnavalrio.eu/ The idea came to me that for many tourists the Rio de Janeiro carnival is surrounded by clichés but also by ignorance about the event. In addition, for a layperson or samba enthusiast, it is quite difficult to get information. There are plenty of events off parades where you can be close to the carnival actors. I was a novice (and I still am), but I would like to pass on this passion and what I felt about the event by giving information that can be useful to everyone, if you go to Rio during the festivities. My advice comes from my own experience and I want to share it with everyone as I share my photos.

Allez Samba Rio: What advice could you give to those who have never been to Rio?

Come and come twice, because there are two Rio de Janeiro, carnival and non-carnival.

Do not hesitate to talk and discuss with the Cariocas, always ready to help. Man or woman, carnival is for you as much to see as to parade. Samba is communicative and we cannot remain insensitive to the sounds of rhythmists. Rio has this sweetness of life that I like.