The preparation for the 2025 Carnival started early in Unidos da Tijuca. Since March last year, carnival and components of the school have been working on the plot LOGUN -EDÉ – Holy boy that the old man respects. The theme, developed by the carnival Edson Pereira, tells the story of the divinity worshiped by the religions of African matrix known as the “Prince of the Orixás”. According to the Yoruba tradition, Login-Edeé is the son of Oxum, orisha associated with fishing and freshwater, and Oxossi, related to hunting and forests.
“When I arrived at school, there was a great desire to make a plot about Logun-EDÉ. There was other plots too, but I thought this would be a very special moment to work on this story and bring positive energy that the community hug Brazil agency. Training costume designer, he began working at Carnival in 1992 as an art painter, undergoing other functions over the years. Before debuting as a carnival of the golden yellow and blue school, he held this position for 16 years at Unidos de Padre Miguel.
Logun-EDÉ
“I did an extensive research to know how to combine this orisha to the history of the school and we discovered many things that seem coincidences, but which are facts,” says the carnival about the relations between the school and the plot chosen for this year’s Carnival. Founded in 1931 in the neighborhood of the North Zone of Rio which bears in its name, Unidos da Tijuca was born on St. Michael Street, which in religious syncretism corresponds to Logun-Edé. In addition, the school has the same colors as Orixá in its pavilion, yellow and blue, and shares the same animal as the divinity: the peacock.
Carnival Edson Pereira poses in one of the floats of Unidos da Tijuca – Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
“From this, we begin to understand how this orisha is dealt with a boy, but that the old man respects his wisdom and bravery, and we see the relationship in the contemporary world of Logun-Edeé with the school and what we are Currently living, ”he continues. In one of the rooms of the Unidos da Tijuca Barracão in the city of Samba, Edson also highlights the importance of discussing ancestry and blackness in the carnival parades, themes that the school had not worked for over 20 years, according to the carnival .
Despite being a less widespread orisha compared to others, Logun-Edeé “brings a very large wisdom and many knowledge to our culture,” says Edson. “I find it very important today to talk about this orisha. Not only about Orixá, but also about your ancestry, about our ancestry, in a way that we can teach people. ”
Preparation
“The process was very calm this year because we started very early,” says Junior Bandeira, in Unidos da Tijuca 12 years ago. At the group, Junior, who came from the Empress Samba School of Olaria, Nova Friburgo, in the Serrana region, is responsible for making costumes, working with a team of about ten people. On the same walk, his wife, Denize Peres, leads another team with approximately the same number of people involved in the production of clothes.
Junior Bandeira, responsible for making the fantasies of Unidos da Tijuca – Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
There are about 380 costumes made by each studio, which take 30 to 40 days to be ready, according to Junior. “When you have the material, we can do around 30 to 40 days, but it has the whole process of arrival of the material, it takes a while, there are some pending issues for the end, but it is more or less this time it takes,” explains, explains .
All costumes are produced in the shed, accompanied by the direction and the carnival of the association. After the parade, the costumes are dismantled, and the material is sold to schools in other cities, to be used next year. In all, Unidos da Tijuca currently brings around 150 people involved in the construction of this year’s parade.
Junior’s hope is that the school is a carnival champion, returning to the Tijuca neighborhood with the fourth title as a winner of the Rio de Janeiro Special Group. THE Last was won in 2014with the plot Accelerates, Tijuca!who honored Formula 1 pilot Ayrton Senna, killed in a car accident during the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy, 20 years earlier, on May 1, 1994. The group was also a winner in 2010 and 2012 , with the plots It’s a secret! and The day when all the royalty landed on the avenue to crown King Luiz do Sertão.
In March, Unidos da Tijuca It will be the first school to parade On March 3 at the Marquês de Sapucaí sambadrome, in Rio de Janeiro. THE Brazil agencyEdson guarantees that expectations for this year are “the best possible.” “We need to make this plot, this parade, the best parade of our lives here in Unidos da Tijuca, so we can fulfill the expectations not only of the community, but also of the samba world,” he says.
*Intern under supervision by Vinícius Lisboa
