I awoke early with bubbling anticipation, kind of like the feeling I used to get as a child on Christmas morning, except this excitement was larger and threaded with pulsing anxiety. There was a lot to do. It was the big day of FlutuFESTA, the culmination of four months of hard work and sweat, four months of sanding and painting boats, four months of bruised knees, fishy smells, sun-toasted skin, dirty hands, varnished feet, frustration and triumph. I wanted to absorb every moment of it.

The jungle palace buzzed with action as the Flutu crew rose from their sleep. Last minute costume alterations mixed with second and third cups of coffee began the day. Together, with a quickened pace we descended the stone stairs of the jungle palace down to the streets below where we hailed a taxi to the harbor. We arrived around 9am and found the harbor looking the same as any day before. The fifty painted boats rocked sleepily in their given spots, fishermen puttered around doing odd jobs and small repairs and the beautiful white garzas (Brazilian egrets) flew from rooftop to rooftop looking for breakfast in the water. But today was not the same as any day before. Our crew filled the center of the square and started blowing up orange balloons. We hung colorful decorations and prepared the boats for the voyage.

Pirates, Posaidons, mermaids, and masses of people dressed in festive sea-going attire arrived at the square. They boarded the painted boats and one by one we took to the sea. The first boat carried Tom Ashe, a British trumpeter dressed in a Dixieland suit and a straw hat. Perched at the bow, he belted out a inaugural fanfare that echoed off the walls of the harbor mixing with cheers of joy as the boats sailed in a procession of color under the bridge and out into the open water.

We headed to the mouth of Guanabara Bay to our first destination for a surprise performance. As the boats approached the jail the crowd discovered two swaths of silk fabric hung like purple pea pods from the derelict bridge. The boats circled and everyone stood in anticipation, watching the pods rocking silently in the breeze. Finally, to great delight, the pods hatched revealing Maxine Nienow and Dana Abrassart dressed all in white. In unison the girls flipped, swung and spun from the silks delivering a spectacular show. After a full performance, they took a final bow and plunged into the water as cheers and whistles erupted from the boats.

Dana Abrassart and Maxine Nienow deliver a surprise performance at the jail

Boats hover around the aerial performance at the old jail

Performers dressed as colorful fairies danced on the rooftops of the boats with iridescent wings rippling in the wind as the fleet changed direction and headed toward the calmer waters of Urca beach. Roberto, one of the captains told me that the wind was too heavy and explained that we could not tie the boats together as planned. With a pang of disappointment I looked at the other boats and saw so many people that I wanted to be with. The party was divided. Sometimes the boats came close to each other in the wind and we could grab the hands of and bring two boats together for a moment so people could hop across, mixing up the groups a bit.

Boat flies

 

friends

Then the waters smoothed making on of my favorite FlutuFESTA moments possible. The captain announced that we could bring the boats together. One by one with ropes and knots, the segregated parties were connected and ecstatic joy erupted as the people climbed from boat to boat finding friends and mingling together in celebration. Happy people juggled, spun poi and swam as others danced across the paintings on the rooftops of the boats. The trumpeter played along with the DJ and I looked out to Guanabara bay and the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I climbed onto the top of one of the boats finding more friends. We embraced each other with sparks in our eyes and the light of life on our faces. I closed my eyes hoping for a chance at recording the memory forever. We stayed on the boats for hours relishing each moment in a scene played straight out of my dreams.

The boats tie together and the parties converge

As the sun began to dip behind the silhouette of the mountains of Rio de Janeiro, the boats detached one by one and made their way back in the direction of the square. Floating in the bay, standing on the rooftop of the last boat to leave, my friends and I watched the procession of painted boats sailing home in front of us. Bursting with immense gratitude I shouted thanks into the sky, thanks to Iemanja, the goddess of the sea, thanks to creation and thanks to life. With a heart full of appreciation for the fishermen, the friends around me and for the opportunity to create FlutuArte, we set off to the harbor. As our boat traveled under the bridge and back into the square the trumpeter played the sweetest fanfare and took a deep bow ending the voyage as everyone whistled and cheered.

The party continued in the square with two bands, more aerialists, jugglers, and fire spinners. We danced into the night and at one point I looked to my side to find Americo, one of the fishermen I got to know best, wearing a giant afro wig. He had a charmed smile on his face as he stood there soaking in the party. I put my arm around him and thanked him for everything. With a look of deep gratitude on his face he said to me “Thank you for all you have done for us, you have changed this place forever, you have brought life to our boats and to our home.” I told him I would miss him deeply. His eyes welled up with tears and he tried to speak, but couldn’t form words. He took a deep breath with his chest and with light reflecting from the tears held in his eyes he said to me “don’t go.” His voice pierced the very essence of me, my heart felt heavy, full of love and sorrow. How I wish I could be in many places at once, how I wish I never had to leave this harbor and these people.

Americo just repeated to me, “Don’t go.” And for the first time I think I understood just how much of an impact FlutuArte has had on the people connected to it. The paintings affect those who pass by the habor, people stop and take photos and marvel at all of the painted boats. But the impact it’s had on those who spend their days in the square is tremendous. They have a new pride in their harbor and as a result they are more connected to each other. The Quadrado has become a special place and I could see now, in Americo’s eyes just how much it meant.

Americo and me