Stars of the Southern Hemisphere— Mariachi Garibaldi members dress in extravagant carnaval costumes during their trip to Brazil to perform at the Festival Internacional de Folclore. Courtesy Photo.
High atop Corcovado Mountain, the towering Christ the Redeemer statue gazes over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Near its base, 2,400 feet above the teaming city, a group of Southwestern College students shivered and took selfies, surprised by the chilly air atop a tropical mountain.
A ghostly white mist formed puffy, nebulous clouds that brought frothy rain from the sky. Ill-equipped students expecting the steamy weather of the World Cup huddled like puppies on a brisk morning.
Brazil was not the sizzling white-sand, blue-skied picture of paradise they had imagined – it was better.
SWC’s Mariachi Garibaldi was cooler than a breezy mountain top and hotter than an Amazon rainforest during a triumphant appearance at the Festival Internacional de Folclore in Nova Petrópolis, a rural city located in the mountainous state of Rio Grande do Sul, 900 miles south of Rio de Janeiro. It was el mariachi’s first journey to South America after gracing stages in France, Korea, Russia, China, Mexico and throughout the U.S.
Mariachi Director Dr. Jeff Nevin said people love the SWC banda – even in countries where mariachi is foreign as Klingon opera.
“Mexicans have a reputation of being just really outgoing, just really friendly,” he said. “Everybody around the world just receives us well.”
Local audiences gathered by the hundreds at the festival as musicians and dancers from around the world represented their cultures through the performing arts.
Maraichi Garibaldi performed twice a day for a week straight. Violinist Jacqueline Sierra said she cherished the experience.
“We had the opportunity to show the people of Brazil what mariachi is,” she said, “(We were able) to show the beauty of it.”
Before traveling to Nova Petrópolis, los mariachis had a few days to explore Rio de Janeiro. On the itinerary were the famous Copacabana Beach, the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain. City streets abound with a mosaic of local vendors enticing tourists with souvenirs and exotic native fruit. SoCal mariachis immersed themselves in the vibrant culture of another hemisphere that developed on the bottom half of the planet.
Buildings painted lime, cherry and hazel lined streets like walk-in flower bouquets. Food stands featured authentic lavender açaí bowls. Aromatic smoke from barbecued kebabs drifted like ghostly temptations through the crowds. Melodic Portuguese sang the songs of daily life.
Rio’s Sambodrome, the artful streets designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, served as the backdrop for the luxurious annual carnival parade, as the mariachis entered the tropical spotlight. Streets were lined with bleachers and packed with the memory of exuberant celebrations. Mariachis donned extravagant carnival costumes that flared with primary color. Smiles stretched ear to ear.
Mariachis also combed the legendary Copacabana beach and swam in the emerald Atlantic as locals played futbol and foot volley on the shore.
During the golden hour as twilight approached, they took a cable car ride to Sugarloaf Mountain as Rio de Janeiro revealed its panoramic beauty in full — a powder blue sky dissolved into ebony as streaks of grapefruit pink and sherbet orange lingered above the warm ocean and tropical city below.
In the morning their plans were to take a flight southwest to Porto Alegre and buses to Nova Petrópolis. Experienced travelers, the mariachis are used to transporting instruments. So it was a surprise to them when their airline demanded a separate plane ticket for the lumbering guitarrón.
Guitarrón player Eunice Aparicio said she has traveled abroad with her instrument many times and has always checked it on her flights. After a brief argument, the musicians gave in and bought the guitarrón a seat. Safely secured, the guitarrón wore a seatbelt like the rest of the passengers, but consumed no peanuts.
Nova Petropólis was as different from Rio as mariachi is from hip-hop. Settled by Germans in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was more European culturally, racially and meteorologically. Daytime temperatures seldom touched 60 degrees and a few mornings were frosty. Los mariachis were woefully under-dressed in their flip-flops, shorts and tanktops. Local clothing stores did brisk business selling pants, jackets and beanies to turistas Americanos.
Cold air was warmed by hot music. Mariachi Garibaldi opened each festival set with “Do Brazil,” its medley of the traditional Brazilian samba, “The Girl From Ipanema” and other Latin American standards. Audiences burst into applause, overcome with joy, as they recognized the melody.
Aparicio recalled how she felt as this situation played itself over and over again.
“It was an overwhelming sensation of happiness,” she said. “Oh my God! We’re making these people happy!”
Nevin said traveling helped to galvanize Mariachi Garibaldi.
“I noticed when we started taking these trips that the performance level of the group got so much better,” he said.
Often, he said, young mariachis can start to play professionally without proper training.
“It’s a funny thing because they can be hired when they know 40 or 50 songs, but they’re not as good as they should be,” he said. “A really good professional mariachi knows a thousand songs.”
Mariachi Garibaldi does not yet have a repertoire of 1,000 songs, but it has a reputation burnished by thousands of fans on four continents. In Brazil, Southwestern’s global ambassadors hit all the right notes.