The 9-foot-tall Raquel Poti regularly graces the front pages of Brazilian magazines and newspapers, and on Saturday she wore an extravagant feathered costume and lacquered her body in gold glitter. At one point, she charged to the end of her street party, waving her iridescent wings as if about to take off. This is the latest in her charismatic stilts performance, which led some media to call her out. Muse of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival.
But on a recent weekend, she transformed her natural petite size into patched jeans. During her class outside Rio’s Museum of Contemporary Art, she instructed her group of students to make eye contact with their partners. Each pair remembered the person who shaped them and shared their dreams with them. Then they hugged each other. Some cried as they talked about how her grandmother taught her how to smile.
“I wasn’t fooled,” Poti, 40, told them. “This is a class on stilt walking. And it has already begun!
This class has been at the heart of her huge footprint in Rio, which includes managing several government-funded social projects for teaching stilts, theater and performing arts, running a production company, and performing at events. This includes recruiting members for our ever-expanding network.
At just over 5 feet tall, this little giant primarily Explosion caused by walking on stilts in Rio, has trained over 1,000 children and adults over the past 10 years. The boom has transformed the landscape of the world’s largest carnival, where hundreds of people on stilts tower over the many raucous parties that occupy and dominate public areas.
For Poti, walking on stilts is more than just a show. It is an ancestral ritual and a starting point for people to fundamentally change their lives and themselves.
The exercise in self-discovery was not what many students expected from the lithe carnival queen with a beaming smile. Poti said in an interview that the stilt walkers’ ability to appeal comes from becoming accustomed to instability, forcing them to consider their vulnerability because they have to be conscious of what they communicate to the crowd. He said it was important to let them know.
“It can be a lot of pain, it can be a lot of love, it can be anything, but it’s what’s inside of us. It brings people closer to our humanity,” she said. He spoke to The Associated Press from inside his apartment. Elaborate costumes hang from every square inch of the colorful walls, and the purple ceiling is covered in fingerprints from her time on stilts with her son.
Those around Poti speak of her with reverence, as if she were a mystic with access to a realm of stilted wisdom. That’s a noble thing to accept, considering that for many people carnival is about escapism or mischievous banter. But more than glitz and glitter, she said, it’s about uplifting people.
“She inspires me to think about how I can influence others and get my message across to them,” said the former student, now Fada Folha (Leaf Fairy). said Camille Kampong, 35, who was performing in front of the children. “It’s something beyond her and she’s fully contributing to it.”
Poti considers herself a missionary rather than a muse, teaching all over the city, from parks to the poor. Dense neighborhoods known as favelas She grew up under her grandfather’s net in a small fishing village on the western edge of Rio. Her cousins still go to the beach every day.
She attended a top university, but her partner died of cancer a few weeks before graduation. Her deep pain derails her planned path, she sets out to travel the world, she first meets a circus troupe, and she realizes that her life is not what she had imagined. She said she was informed that it may be different than what she expected.
“When I first saw stilts, it was a huge discovery. I saw their potential as a means by which people could be brought together to build trusting relationships and society.” she said.
Ms. Poti studied popular culture and community relations for four years and returned to Brazil in 2013 to found the Stilt Workshop. Engaging performances have proven to be effective advertising. Campan signed up immediately after seeing Poti at the Friends of Jaguar Carnival Party, which currently attracts about 40,000 attendees.
Returning to class outside the museum, Poti was explosive from the start. She jumped out of the ground, stretched her limbs in all directions, and played her first game that connected her students with the play elements essential to a carnival party. After an “interactive dynamic” (poti exercises similar to group therapy), she taught the stilt technique, and then the class was strapped into unwieldy equipment. At first they were helped by volunteer former students, but soon everyone was walking around on their own.
“I’ve wanted to do this for years,” psychologist Daniel Mello, 43, told the group. “I didn’t know I was capable.”
Some people are in the midst of hardships, but transformation can occur by overcoming what was previously thought to be insurmountable. Many continue to perform at parties in Rio.
Gabi Falcan, 37, was one of them. After separating from her husband of 10 years, she moved in with a friend with her two young children and later attended Poti’s workshop, an experience that was “emotionally deep” and felt right at the time. She says it was just what she needed.
“Her projects change lives. She has the tools to tease people and take people out of their comfort zone,” said Falcao, who has now performed at more than 10 carnival parties and volunteers with Poti’s classes. said. “She has the power to make magic happen.”
Mr. Falcao and several other stilt walkers interviewed by The Associated Press described Mr. Poti as someone who opens doors and wakes people up. Some even say that she has her ancestral energy and that she teaches others to think and act in groups. Two called her a witch and one said she seemed able to stop her time. Most took note of her presence, shown by her intense eye contact during interactions and by giving her all in her carnival performance.
Some describe her as a wise organizer and promoter. Her workshop has her five-person production team, and she holds planning meetings for communication and sales. A photographer will be there to document her first experience, which Poti says could be like a baptism. He has shot all her projects, of which there are about 15 of her projects.
“Her work in this city has been unparalleled in terms of building an empire, and she continues to build,” said Poti, who was gathered to reign at the samba school for parade this week. said Carol Passarinha, one of the 30 stilt walkers.
Poti juggles her endeavors as a single mother raising a 7-year-old boy. She performed until three days before her water broke. Six weeks later, she was on her stilts at Rio’s most iconic concert venue, the Flying Circus, nursing her baby in the dressing room.
Toward the end of Saturday morning’s party, Poti weaved her way across a freeway overpass on stilts, weaving through crowds of revelers shouting their praises. She quickly returned to her parked car, crammed her costume and 15 sets of stilts, and drove off, insisting that producers resolve the issue of assigning a photographer for her next party. The work features more than 75 stilts, many of them in traditional costumes, and Poti serves as its artistic director.
Her hustle helps explain why she’s always been a standout sensation at carnivals. She also invests a considerable amount of money in her costumes to dazzle the audience. One photographer said she “creates moments.”
A few days ago, over lunch at a vegan restaurant, a former editor of Rio’s main newspaper showed her all the press photos of the carnival and grumbled, with some amusement, that he was going to have to feature her on the front page again. Potty remembered that.
The spotlight doesn’t bother her. In fact, she appreciates it. After all, she is a pioneer, she said, and she has been trying and receiving recognition for 10 years. But she hopes more people look beyond her to her cause and the change she is trying to bring about.
“Treatment is more important than being on the cover,” she said.
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