ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Carnival gets underway this weekend. But in the run-up to official festivities, local parties have been in full swing. These free celebrations are called blocos, block parties. Most have a theme. NPR's Carrie Kahn takes us to one neighborhood across the bay from Rio, where the party is, shall we say, of a mature nature.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #1: (Singing in non-English language).
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: OK. It's not what you think. When we say mature, we just mean aged, experienced, like 85-year-old Odette Fagundes da Cruz.
ODETTE FAGUNDES DA CRUZ: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: Dressed in bright neon spandex shorts, sensible shoes and a splash of red lipstick, she says she's here to shake her hips.
FAGUNDES DA CRUZ: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: Maybe not as much as usual, she says. She's a little tired. She was out dancing until 2 a.m. last night.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: The master of ceremonies welcomes the crowd to this year's Bola Branca, loosely translated the white-haired party, for those 60 and up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing in non-English language).
KAHN: Everyone sings the bloco's song printed on the back of the red-and-white paper fans. It's not even noon, and it's already in the high 80s.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing in non-English language).
KAHN: I'm jumping. I'm singing. I'm on fire, go the lyrics. Eighty-five-year-old da Cruz says this is just what the community needs now.
FAGUNDES DA CRUZ: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "It feels good to shed the sadness that a lot of people were feeling during the pandemic," she says. Brazil was hit hard by COVID. Nearly 700,000 people died, many elderly. This is the first year the 60 and up block party is back on since 2020.
MICHEL MACHADO: (Speaking Portuguese).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Portuguese).
MACHADO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: They've added a food drive this year. With every donation of dry goods, Michel Machado hands out a shirt and condoms.
MACHADO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Everyone likes them," he says, even if most of the women tell them they're for a neighbor. Seventy-three-year-old Maria Molina doesn't need excuses.
MACHADO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "People have a lot of sex during Carnival," she shouts to me over the loud music. She has six kids, eight grandkids and two great-grandchildren. She's widowed and says it's hard to find a good partner these days.
MARIA MOLINA: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Most men just use you and lose you," she says. She loves the friendship and dancing she's found in this bloco.
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KAHN: This neighborhood in Niteroi has the second highest number of senior citizens in all of Brazil, says bloco president Sergio Wenecke.
SERGIO WENECKE: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "We can't let our age hold us back. We may not have young bodies anymore," he says, "but we are for sure young in spirit."
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing in non-English language).
KAHN: Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Niteroi, Brazil.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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