“Gilberto Gil’s ‘Artistic Mandarinate’.” Option. September/ October, 1988.

[Excerpt]

It is Saturday, the first night of the neighbourhood carnival in Liberdade, a borough in Salvador, Bahia, also referred to simply as Bahia, the name of the state in northeastern Brazil of which it is the capital. 1988 is the centennial of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, and its commemoration and the accompanying wave of negritude (pronounced “ney-gri-too-dee”), have been incorporated into this year’s carnival theme: Bahia de Todos as Africas (Bahia of All the Africas).

[…]

The crowd in the square is awaiting the arrival of the most popular bloco from Liberdade, Ile Aiye, which originated the bloco-afro concept in 1974. When Ile Aiye finally appears an hour later, they are surrounded by phalanxes of shirtless you men, bobbing and jabbing, dancing the newest dance in Liberdade: the Mike Tyson.