VoodooSamba: The Dark Cabaret<\/strong><\/p>\n It is carnival Sunday. Midnight. Taking place over the 12 hours of carnival night, VoodooSamba: The Dark Cabaret is a different sort of carnival. It is a journey beyond the grave, where death is simply a gateway to another form of existence: a chaotic, raucous world with characters that transcend the normal rules of nature and life \u2013 they reflect our inner fears and darkest secrets and desires. Here superstitions and myth become real, as do our very own nightmares. Death lurks in the background, laughing. Fear, malevolence, and the supernatural all play a part. It is a world where you must make a choice.<\/p>\n VoodooSamba shocks and scares, seduces and celebrates. It is beautiful, yet deadly. It is decadent. It is primal. It is sexy.<\/p>\n VoodooSamba has elements of burlesque (caricature, parody, travesty, extravaganza) and elements of the Theatre of the Grotesque (fitting somewhere between the real and the fantastic, somewhere between being funny and being frightening).<\/p>\n VoodooSamba isn\u2019t a Halloween party \u2013 it is first and foremost a samba parade, with traditional samba costumes, sequins, feathers, jewels, lots of sparkle and glamour\u2026.but with a wicked twist.<\/p>\n Comiss\u00e3o de Frente – “Gateway to Another World”
\nWithout warning, you are pulled through a gateway into a nightmare world of primal and malevolent forces, where the normal rules of nature don\u2019t apply. You are met at the entrance to this world by The Gatekeepers. Who are they? What do they want? You sense their awesome power, something ancient, and something from deep within the earth. They start to spin, dancing hypnotically, weaving their magic, captivating you, enchanting you…
\nslowly your conscious mind relinquishes its hold on your thoughts and actions. You are under their spell. Is this real? Or just a nightmare? You are afraid. Once again you are a child, clinging to your Twisted Innocence. All around you appear monstrous apparitions \u2013 stalking you, injecting terror into your very nerves… these are your Primal Fears, your nightmares given form. You try to flee, taking in your surroundings: the landscape through which you move is a twisted, grotesque parody, where superstitions take form, and myth becomes real. And at its centre, sensuous and dangerous, lies a malevolent feminine power…a Queen of Darkness, who embodies and commands the forces of life and death: beautiful and terrible as the morning and the night… all shall love her and despair!
\nIn the distance you hear the sound of drumming. They are coming, you cannot turn back…drums…drums in the deep! Hopelessly enthralled to their mistress, marching relentlessly towards you is a bateria. Cursed by the \u2018maldi\u00e7ao do samba\u2019, they are The Samba Damned, doomed to play samba for all eternity.
\nAnd what of you, o pitiful carnival reveller, lost in this nightmare world, are you strong of will or weak like the others? Suddenly, gracefully, like moonlight shimmering off a mountain lake, you are surrounded by beautiful, other-worldly beings, enticing you with their flesh, captivating you, seducing you, whispering that here, everything you long for can be yours: wealth, power, fame, lust… but their beauty hides a dark secret: they are nothing more than Soul Hunters: scavengers that feed on your guilt and darkest thoughts, and the price you must pay for their gifts is this: your mortal soul.
\nConsumed by your desire, you are drawn into The Dark Cabaret: a wanton and riotous celebration. Here you must make your choice. And what if you succumb, weak, fragile soul that you are? What then? In front of you now lie blood and bones, the empty shells of Lost Souls who have trod this path before you, victims of their own excesses – they did not survive the choices they made. But for you, there is still a chance… tick-tock-tick-tock…the Sands of Time are running out. Dawn is approaching. Ahead, you see what looks like another gateway… there may yet be a way for you to step back into the light… or will you be lost forever in the dark?<\/p>\nCostumes<\/h4>\n
\nAla das Baianas – “The Gatekeepers”
\nAla Afro – “Primal Fear”
\nBateria – “The Samba Damned”
\nAla dos Passistas – “Soul Hunters”
\nDance Ala – “The Dark Cabaret”
\nAla \u00cdndio – “Blood, Bones, Masks and Mardi Gras”<\/p>\nMusic<\/h4>\n