Carnivals?! ?

Question

i'm doing a dance about carnivals for my dance exam but i don't no any carnival songs

do you no any typical carnival songs??

how would you explain a carnival? ...i don't really understand what it is

were do they originate from?

thanx :)

Answer 1

Hi,

Carnival is a time  to party. It occurs immediately before Lent and is mostly associated with Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox Christians; Protestant areas usually do not have carnival celebrations.

The tradition is extremely old, probably pre-Christian. The ancient Roman festivals of the Saturnalia and Bacchanalia might be the origin of the Italian Carnival. The Saturnalia, in turn, may be based on the Greek Dionysia and Oriental festivals.

As I said, Carnival is a time to party wildly before Lent, when traditionally no parties may be held and many foods, such as meat, are forbidden, as the forty days of Lent serve to commemorate the Passion of Jesus.

Even the name reflects this: the etymology comes from the Italian "carne levare" or similar, meaning "to remove meat", or from the Late Latin expression "carne vale", which means "farewell to meat", signifying that those were the last days when one could eat meat before the fasting of Lent.

Another translation reads carne vale as "a farewell to the flesh", a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrations that encourage letting go of your former (or everyday) self and embracing the carefree nature of the festival.

In Christianity, the most famous traditions, including parades and masquerading, are first attested from medieval Italy.

The carnival of Venice was for a long time the most famous carnival in the world.

From Italy, carnival traditions spread to Spain, Portugal, and France. From France, they spread to the Rhineland of Germany, and to New Orleans.

From Spain and Portugal, they spread to Latin America.

Many other areas have developed their own traditions.

For lots of ideas on masquerades and dances, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_...

and

http://www.venetianmasksshop.com/history...

I hope this help.