Cordão da Bola Preta, created in 1918, is one of Rio de Janeiro's most popular Carnival blocos. About 2 million people joined its parade on Avenida Rio Branco in Carnival 2011.
The bloco, often referred to as Cordão do Bola Preta, goes out every Carnival Saturday morning in downtown Rio, starting at the business area known as Cinelândia, then on Avenida Rio Branco all the way to the Candelária Church and back to Cinelândia. There's also an evening pre-Carnival parade.
Lore has it that beautiful, curvaceous woman in a polka-dot dress was the inspiration for the bloco's name.
At the end of 2008, as it reached its 90th anniversary, Cordão da Bola Preta was listed as a Rio de Janeiro Cultural Heritage. However, the bloco was facing problems with keeping its headquarters. Thanks to land from the city administration, donations and money from shows, in 2009 the bloco inaugurated the new cultural center in Lapa, with space for shows, a bar, and Carnival parties.
Centro Cultural Cordão da Bola Preta:
Rua da Relação 3
Lapa
Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Phone: 55-21-22408049
Find the schedule for the cultural center under "Casas" and "Bola Preta" in the drop-down boxes of LanaLapa, the best online source for what's up in this bustling nightlife district.
Carnival 2012 News:
The 2012 season comes with some big changes for Cordão da Bola Preta. For the first time in its history, the main parade is going to be sound-wired by the city administration.
According to the Official Rio de Janeiro Carnival Guide, the new structure for the Carnival Saturday parade on Avenida Rio Branco will allow the bloco to use four sound trucks, one less than in 2011.
Also, the parade route is going to flow in the opposite direction from the usual. This year, the bloco will gather at the Candelária and move towards Cinelândia. The change is solving the problem of stopping the parade flow at Avenida Presidente Vargas, where car traffic can't be interrupted. The new solution should make for a smoother parade.
The bloco's 2012 queen, introduced at their Carnival party at the Lapa headquarters in January and crowned on Feb.5, is actress Desirée Oliveira.
Pre-Carnival 2012 Parade:
Feb.10 at 8 p.m.
Starting Point: Largo da Candelária (Centro). The parade will go down Avenida Rio Branco towards Cinelândia.
Carnival 2012 Parade:
Carnival Saturday, Feb.18, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.
Starting Point: Largo da Candelária (Centro). The parade will go down Avenida Rio Branco towards Cinelândia.
More About Cordão da Bola Preta 2012
What to Wear for the Parade:
Black polka dots on white is the signature style for Cordão da Bola Preta outfits. But you can just wear plain black and white or bright colors.
A flexible dress code (and crossdressing) is OK with Cordão da Bola Preta, but things don't tend to get too risqué - the bloco is popular with families, from kids to grandparents.
Parade Music:
The music played by the loud brass band is mainly marchinhas de Carnaval, or Carnival classics.
The signature song for the bloco was written in its honor at the heyday of the marchinha de Carnaval era. The band plays it often (usually just the first part) during the bloco parades.
Here are the Marcha do Cordão do Bola Preta lyrics.
This Cordão da Bola Preta panorama on Ayrton 360 showing the bloco on Carnival Saturday 2007 has a sound file with the bloco's signature song (and the first notes of "Cidade Maravilhosa", Rio's theme song).
More Bola Preta Images:
Another Cordão da Bola Preta panorama by Ayrton, taken at Cinelândia on Carnival Saturday 2008. Enjoy the immersive photo with a sound file of the band playing Braguinha's "Vai com jeito". Zoom in for details.
Cordão da Bola Preta on YouTube as the band played the 2008 samba-enredo for the Beija-Flor samba school.
How to Get to Cinelândia:
By subway - the Rio de Janeiro subway has a station at Cinelândia. The subway stays open 24 hours a day throughout Carnival.
