What is the name of your group?
Grupo de Carnaval Açoriano de Tulare

When and how did it begin?
Our group was formed in December of 1993; our first performance was during Carnaval of 1994, four carnaval-experienced friends were driving around town looking at Christmas lights, listening to Portuguese music, a catchy tune was on the radio, and someone said: “This would be a great Carnaval song”; that moment was the birth of this group.

How many danças and bailinhos has your group done?
We typically present one men’s dança\bailinho per year. Occasionally, such as this year, we have had years of putting together 2 and 3 danças\bailinhos, adding a kid’s or women’s group to the men’s. In our 30 years of existence, this year, we will present our 30th and 31st dança/bailinho, a men’s dança de pandeiro, and a kid’s bailinho.

What are some of the themes that you have touched upon over the years?
Our group has had a variety of themes over the years. Some of those themes include local politics, current events, popular TV game shows or movies with a Portuguese twist, and sometimes late-night ideas that just pop into someone’s head that we create an assunto idea with.

How do you recruit for your group?
Our group has a pretty solid core of the same members year after year. Occasionally someone may be unable to participate due to work or personal reasons. Interested individuals contact us if they want to join our group. If we have a spot to fill or
know of someone that is available, we reach out to them. The group stays about the same size year after year, with a few returning or new faces joining us occasionally.

What are your thoughts on the Terceira Style Carnaval (danças and bailinhos) in
California today compared to when your group began?
Carnaval has evolved tremendously over the last 30 years, not only in California but also in Terceira. The musical styling has changed, and more brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments are used today. The wardrobes are much more elaborate
and theme-influenced. 30 years ago, black pants and a white shirt with some sequence were common; today, more thought goes into how the wardrobe reflects the assunto theme. The assuntos (themes) cover a broader scope of themes now than they did then. Some of the commonly picked-on personalities in the 90’s assuntos (“O Tolo”, “O Maricas”, “O Bêbado”) are now considered socially inappropriate or no longer used.

Carnaval in Terceira has had a tremendous evolution in the last 20 years. How do you see
that evolution here in California?
In my opinion, Carnaval here in California has evolved at a slower pace than in Terceira, and I believe that is a good thing to preserve the tradition. Most groups here continue more in line with Carnaval’s traditional style and maintain the rhyming verse, an essential part of Carnaval’s genuineness.

Have the audiences (number in attendance) decreased or continued the same since your group’s inception?
Yes, unfortunately, the audiences have decreased drastically.

Since fewer folks in California are fluent in Portuguese, how do you see this cultural presentation in 10 to 12 years from now regarding participants and audience?
With an older community and a decreasing number of fluent Portuguese speakers, I feel that Carnaval will be significantly affected in the next 10-12 years. Participants can get by with memorizing their lines and transmitting the assunto even if they are not 100% fluent in Portuguese or, in some cases, have no understanding of what they are saying but
unfortunately, members of the audience need to comprehend some Portuguese to
fully understand the performance.

What has been the “secret” to your group’s longevity, and what prospects do you have for the future, especially for your group?
Our group brings a lot of fun and energy to our performances. Our music is upbeat, our assunto’s are enjoyable, and we have a great time doing what we do. Although the 3 months leading up to Carnaval are exhausting at times when it’s show time, we
have fun. When each carnival is over, we anxiously await the next year’s carnival. Our prospect or goal is to simply maintain the tradition year after year, thus the additional kids bailinho this year. We hope that some of this year’s young participants
catch the “Carnaval Bug” and will want to continue in this tradition.
Our group has performed abroad in Canada in 2006 and in Terceira this past Carnaval, and who knows, maybe one day we can do that again!

In Terceira, many of the “danças and bailinhos” contain much criticism directed at government, organizations, and society, and many focus on current events. Does your group do the same here in California?
We have had some assuntos that touched on politics, our society, current events, and local organizations. These topics weren’t chosen to direct criticism to anything or anyone; instead, we intended to have an assunto to which the audience could relate. I feel that many of the assuntos that include criticism directed at government, organizations, and society sometimes only gets the attention of the people who are in tune with those topics, furthermore limiting the pool of audience members that truly understand what is being presented.

What do you attribute to the considerable reduction in groups this year throughout the state compared to prior years? Although there was a decrease statewide, Tulare has five groups, almost half of the total for this year throughout the state. What do you attribute to the continuance in Tulare and the decrease in other areas? Do demographics play a role, such as more people moving to other parts of the state and further away from the traditional places where Terceira Style Carnaval has deep traditions?
One of the biggest factors for the decrease in groups in California this year is that Carnaval comes so early this year. Typically, most groups don’t get into serious Carnaval rehearsals until after the 1st of the year. With that being said, this year, that only
gives a group a solid 5 weeks to prepare for Carnaval. Our kids’ group started rehearsing in November, and the guys started in December, and we are still feeling the time crunch. The combination of everyone having a busy lifestyle and a short preparation window may have scared a few groups off this year. Hopefully, they return next year. I also feel that the behind-the-scenes, pre-carnaval work has become more strenuous, and fewer individuals are willing to take on those responsibilities. A lot of work goes into a dança or bailinho before the first line is even rehearsed, including assunto brainstorming, assunto and lyrics author acquisition, music selection and composition, wardrobe and costume design, etc. With limited resources for these necessary components of a dança\bailinho, it becomes a real challenge here in California to assemble a group. We are not as Carnaval fortunate as our counterparts in Terceira, where every village has at least one seamstress, countless musicians, and the nearest assunto author is only 30 minutes away. The Portuguese community of Tulare is very fortunate to have 5 danças\bailinhos this
year. In recent years, Tulare has consistently had 3-5 danças\bailinhos. In certain years other communities have more danças, like a wave of communities with a greater Carnaval presence. Some years , the state’s North has more groups; the next year, it may be the South. I believe that founding members of the Tulare groups have the extra tenacity, desire, and maybe a little more stubbornness to maintain this tradition year after year. Hopefully, those groups that rested this year will return energized.

What is your group’s stand on live broadcasts of the “danças and bailinhos”?
This is not our group’s stand, just my opinion on this constant Carnaval hot button topic. I understand both sides of the argument. People who cannot attend the live performances should be able to see the performances as well, and I get that. But…Carnaval 100% NEEDS PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE.
Most people won’t understand this, but the crowd makes or breaks a performance for a Carnaval group. A group can have the best-written assunto performed by a great group of actors, the most fantastic music and musicians playing it, a mestre singing the most beautiful songs, and none of it matters if the crowd is nonexistent. The Carnaval performers on stage thrive from the audience’s reactions and applause. When the audience is not present or engaged, a subpar performance (as hard as we may try) is only natural from the performers.
Many of these organizations also open their doors for free for Carnaval dances to perform. They need people spending money at the bar and snack bar to justify opening their doors for Carnaval. In closing on this live versus livestream topic, Carnaval and all organizations in our Portuguese communities need people to come out and enjoy our cultural events. Yes
the videos are great for watching after the event, but much work goes on behind the scenes to put on these events, and if no one shows up because they can watch a live stream from the comfort of their home, it is all for nothing.

Is there anything else you would like to cover and inform the readers of NOVIDADES?
I would like to thank Novidades for this opportunity to comment on this segment on Carnaval in California. Carnaval is a tradition that I hold dear to my heart and has brought me much happiness and many friendships both here and abroad over the last 40 years, and I hope it continues for generations to come.

We Thank the Grupo de Carnaval Açoriano de Tulare for their interview as we at PBBI-Fresno State continue our mission of preserving our stories and creating our narratives. 

Some of their recordings from prior years