"Les filles!" shouts Règina to call "the girls" of the troupe all wrapped up in orange and pink pieces of fabric and crossing the avenue while balancing themselves on stilts. The funk music being played on the sound speakers is in Portuguese, but the instructions are given in French.
Even though they hardly speak the language, they will have an experience in this Carnaval that few Brazilians have ever had. They will see from above the longest carnaval bloco in Rio de Janeiro, the Boitolo, crossing the city.
The foreign girls created a group of stilt walkers, a tradition from the old parades in Rio inspired by long-legged birds. The ensemble was conceived by the Belgian Règina Phalange, 30, who fell in love with the circus object when she arrived in the Brazil.
A year ago, she came to an immersion event in Brazilian culture, had her first contact with the stilts and didn't go back. In the unofficial street revelry of 2022, she noticed the interest of some French women in the stilts.
"I started teaching one or two classes, then it was a matter of bouche à oreille, word of mouth", she says. The practice takes place every Wednesday at Praça Paris, in Rio's central area.
Translated by Cassy Dias