José Esteves, author of plots and songs for the Terceira Style Carnaval

How many works have you written for the Terceira Island Style Carnaval?
Between songs and subjects, I have written around 60 pieces for Carnival; this year, I wrote for the most groups, a total of 17. I’ve tried to keep the groups more or less the same over the last few years, even though this obviously doesn’t depend on me alone, as I think it’s important to get to know the performers so that the final work can be better used.

How did you start writing? What’s more challenging, the lyrics or the plots?
I started writing in 2016, shortly after my introduction to the world of singing, while taking part in Bailinho de Santa Cruz in Praia da Vitória, at the invitation of the group’s leader. I was challenged to write the greeting and farewell songs, and I was lucky enough to have wonderful voices interpreting my words, which made everything more beautiful and helped to ensure that the following year, I had already received some invitations from others to write songs. In terms of subjects, my first work was in 2018, with the birth of a group of ladies, Baile Delas, who invited me to write the whole ballet: greeting songs, subject, middle songs, and farewell songs. It was a huge challenge but was very enjoyable and served as a “launch pad” for my emergence as a Carnaval plot writer. As I’ve already mentioned, this year, I wrote the most plots, a total of nine, including a Dança de Espada (sword) and a monologue. Both the songs and the plot have their own challenges. In the cantigas (lyrics), we are always limited to the metrics of the songs chosen by the groups. Sometimes, we write to melodies that don’t give us much room for maneuver, which ends up making our work difficult and also having to greet and say goodbye to an audience in several different ways over the years ends up demanding a lot of our creativity. As far as the plots are concerned, since I’m a staunch supporter of rhyming subjects, the biggest challenge lies in constructing a story with a beginning, middle and end, adapted to the different characters and, in the case of the bailinhos and pandeiro dances, with a sense of humor. Writing a sword dance is also a huge challenge due to these plots’ emotional and sentimental weight.

Have we seen the emergence of new authors?
Yes, new authors have been appearing for a few years now, and it’s becoming more and more noticeable. Especially since the retirement of Mr. Hélio Costa, who had been writing for a larger number of groups for many years, there has been a need to look for new authors and to focus more on those who had already started appearing a few years ago, such as Ricardo Martins and Sandra Vieira. Furthermore, it is with great satisfaction and pride that we have witnessed, year after year, the “birth” of new authors, such as Samuel Martins, who made his debut in 2024 writing for his group and this year has already written for two other groups, Gonçalo Barros, Samuel Borges, who made his debut this year writing for his group and is very likely to start working for different groups, and many others who have emerged and who deserve all our appreciation and respect. João Mendonça, from whom I have been lucky enough to learn a lot, given my participation in Bailinho da Agualva, is, like Hélio Costa, a unique reference in Carnaval writing, with more than 400 works. This new wave of authors, in my opinion, has the privilege of still being able to work closely with these references of our Carnival and mature their writing with the help of their advice and the examples they have given us.

What are the advantages that give the island’s Carnaval its longevity?
The island’s Carnaval has evolved a lot over the years in terms of costumes, musical quality, staging, and the comfort of the audience… Terceira is, par excellence, a school for artists, and many of them start learning to play, act, and/or write precisely thanks to Carnival and with this dream of actively contributing to the enrichment of this culture. We’re seeing more and more young people on stage and, as we’ve already mentioned, behind the scenes, which, in my eyes, gives us a lot of hope for the future. It’s natural for Carnival to evolve over the years and meet audiences’ expectations. Still, it’s really important to maintain the identity roots of this festival, which make it so rich and unique.

What challenges does this cultural event face?
I think that one of the biggest challenges facing Carnival today is the need to cultivate it among the children and teenagers of today’s society, who have increasing access to a wide variety of sources of information and entertainment, so that this population grows up and nurtures this dream, as happened to me and several other young people, of actively participating in Carnival. It is, therefore, imperative and essential to work with student communities, making known the essence and unique beauty that characterizes Carnival so that in a few years, the fruits of this effort to publicize and preserve this cultural and social event will be reaped. Two years ago, for example, as an employee of the Praia Cultural Cooperative, I and other colleagues toured the schools and nurseries of the municipality of Praia da Vitória with a little dance aimed at children, precisely in an attempt to awaken their taste for the sounds and roots of Carnaval. In my opinion, this kind of work is essential for the longevity of Carnaval.

Will Carnaval be able to involve the “digital” generation?
I firmly believe so. Carnival has deep roots in cultural and social terms, and given its magnitude and the impact it has on our island, I think it will be able to involve the “digital” generation. To do this, as I’ve already mentioned, working with the younger population is extremely important. As happens, for example, with singing, I think that the appearance of young people writing and taking part in balls and dances will also make more and more young people interested in Carnaval and, in this way, the preservation of this culture will happen naturally.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

Carnaval is the Portuguese word for what people here in the United States refer to as Mardi Gras -from the French tradition. It is a strong tradition in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries, with Brazil having the largest Carnaval Celebration in the World. On Terceira island, the danças and bailhinhos have a strong tradition, with nearly 60 performing throughout the island during four days.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks the Luso-American Education Foundation for their support.