“Les filles!” Règina shouts to call the “girls” of the group wrapped in orange and pink fabrics who cross the avenue balancing on stilts. The funk that plays on the soundboard is in Portuguese, but the instructions are given in French.
Even if they hardly speak the language, they will have an experience in this Carnival that few Brazilians have tried. You will see from above the longest parade in Rio de Janeiro, the Boitolo, crossing the city.
The foreigners created a group of waders, already a tradition in Rio de Janeiro parades. The ensemble was directed by Belgian Règina Phalange, 30, who fell in love with the circus object when she arrived in the country.
A year ago, he came to an immersion event in Brazilian culture, found the peg leg and never came back. At the 2022 unofficial street carnival, she noticed some French women’s interest in stilts.
“I started by giving one or two classes, then it was bouche à oreille, word of mouth,” he says. Training takes place every Wednesday at Praça Paris, in the central region of Rio.
Translated by AZAHARA MARTIN ORTEGA
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