Synopsis
“Open Sesame, minha gente!”
Inspired by the fantastic stories of the Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin, Ali Baba, et al, this is the tale of Zé Malandro, who, straight from the backstreets of Rio de Janeiro finds himself lost in a world of exotic spices, colourful silks and Islamic astrology.
Intricate geometric patterns, hourglasses and magic lamps lead the imagination to desert sands, oases, nomads and minarets, viziers, genies in bottles, flying carpets, scimitars, djinn, beautiful princesses, riddles, and hidden treasure…
Theme by Chris Bicourt
Costumes
Costume designs by Marianne & Nicola of Vortex Creates.
Music
No Rio Sou Malandro e na Persia Alibaba from London School of Samba on Myspace.
No Rio Sou Malandro e na Persia Ali Baba
Composed by Xavier Osmir and Paul Rumbol (Paulinho do Cavaco)
Abre- te sésamo eu quero entrar
cheguei da Persia – o – para lhe apresentar
a poesia que vai encantar
quarenta malandros e Ali Baba
Terra do samba e pandeiro
o Rio de Janeiro e de arrepiar
exaltando o carnaval Brasileiro
odaliscas descem o morro pra sambar
Um pedido ao genio entreguei
a lampada esfreguei
um sonho meu realizei
a lapa que e nostalgia
romance e boemia
vamos festejar!
(hoje tem festa na areia)
Hoje tem festa na areia
quem quizer pode chegar
pra cantar com alegria
curta o som da bateria
que a unidos vem tocar
Sambou, cantou, e no bixo jogou
e com a malandragem se encantou
dancou o Tico-Tico no Fubá
de Carmen Miranda e provou
um gostoso Quindim de Iaiá
cantigas com sabor de samba,
e toda gente bamba querendo provar
Este ritmo alegre vem apreciar
o balançodo samba vai contagiar
chora cavaco – toca o pandeiro
sou Zé Malandro, sou do Rio de Janeiro
English translation by Maxine Shorto
In Rio I am Malandro and in Persia I am Ali Baba
Open sesame I want to come in
I have arrived from Persia to introduce
the poetry that will enchant
the forty thieves and Ali Baba
Land of samba and pandeiro
Rio de Janeiro gives me a heartbeat
Glorifying the Brazilian carnival
The odalisques coming from the favelas to dance samba
I asked the genie
I rubbed the lamp
and my dream came true
In Lapa the town of nostalgia, romance and bohemia
We are going to celebrate
Today we have a party on the sandy beach
You are welcome to join in
To sing with happiness
Enjoy the sound of the drums
that Unidos de Londres will play
Ali Baba danced samba, sang a song
and played the forbidden lottery (Jogo Do Bixo)
He danced the Tico-Tico no Fubá dance
that Carmen Miranda invented
and ate the delicious Quindim de Iaiá
Music with the flavour of samba
that everybody wants to try
Come to appreciate this happy rhythm
The swing of the samba is bringing excitement
Play the cavaco – Play the pandeiro
I am Zé Malandro, I am from Rio de Janeiro
Notting Hill Carnival Results
No judging took place this year.
Press
Pictures and video of our performance at 2011′s Notting Hill Carnival can be seen in various press articles.
Guardian
Daily Mail
Metro
Picture 7 in this gallery on sky news’ website.
Pictures 3 & 4 in this gallery on www.shinystyle.tv
Pictures 22, 23 & 25 in this gallery on LBC radio’s website.
Demotix
This picture of our friends from Papagaio who were a part of our parade has appeared in lots of articles:
Belfast Telegraph
Express and Star
talktalk
You can even see more images from last year’s carnival that were used in articles in the build up to this year’s event.
Metro
Guardian
Italo Europeo
London Evening Standard