Judge threatens to block girl, 7, from performing sexy dance role in Rio carnival

Julia Lira in full flow at rehearsal earlier this week. The decision to appoint her to the coveted role has caused such controversy that a judge is considering blocking her participation

A row has broken out in Brazil over plans to make a seven-year-old girl the 'queen' of a samba school in this year's Rio de Janeiro carnival.

The role of 'drum corps queen' is normally given to a barely-clad model whose traditional role is that of a sexy muse.

The decision to appoint Julia Lira to the coveted role has caused such controversy that a judge is considering blocking her participation.


The seven-year-old stands on stage next to former drum queen Juliana Paes. This year, Julia will take Juliana's role



The role Julia has been handed is traditionally seen as that of a sexy muse. Pictured here is one such muse from last year's carnival, Jéssica Maia de Freitas, who was named official Carnival Queen

A state agency that defends children's rights has also said she's too young to take on a traditionally sexy role.

But the child's father, who happens to be the president of the Viradouro group, says Julia is a natural who can easily samba through the 80-minute parade route in Rio's sweltering summer heat.

'Any man who looks at a seven-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor,' Marco Lira said before rehearsal this week.

'She has the aptitude to be a drum corps queen - you'll see it tonight. She has a seriousness inside of her when she is on the stage.'

At the delicate core of Julia's case is the queen's traditional role in Rio's Carnival: that of sexy muse.

Unlike other participants, she is usually not bare-chested and wears more than just glitter. But queen costumes would be considered revealing by any estimation.

Brazil has long had a problem with sexual exploitation of children, especially in the lawless Amazon region.

Allowing Julia to be a drum corps queen 'would increase the treatment of children as sexual objects in Brazilian society,' said Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents.

'We're not against kids participating in Carnival; it's part of Brazilian culture," Nicodemos said. 'What we can't allow is putting a seven-year-old girl in a role that traditionally for carnival has a very sexual focus.'

The competition among the 12 top-tier samba groups is fierce, and the winners are hailed by fans across Brazil.

Viradouro, which won the title in 1997, is no stranger to controversy. In 2008, a judge blocked the group's use of a dancer dressed as Hitler on a float loaded with naked people representing Holocaust victims after the display caused an international outcry.

Julia's fate is now in the hands of a family court in Rio.


A float followed by a samba school makes its way through Rio during carnival. This year's celebrations begin next week

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1248973/Julia-Lira-Fury-decision-Brazilian-girl-7-sexy-role-Rio-Janeiro-carnival.html#ixzz0elTdMv34


Julia walks on to a stage ahead of a practicse as her mother Monica Lira, right, watches her


At this rehearsal within ten minutes the child asked for water and after 20 minutes began to look tired. During carnival she will have to dance for 80 minutes


The judge examining the case, Ivone Ferreira Caetano, has declined to comment or say when she will make a decision.

Mr Lira said the judge requested information about the girl's role, what time the group was scheduled to makes its presentation - now set for just after midnight on February 14 - and what Julia would be wearing.

At practice this week, Julia danced in a white miniskirt, sequined haltertop and silver-heeled sandals, with a tiara.

While the details of parade themes and costumes are closely guarded secrets in Rio's Carnival, a Viradouro artistic director said Julia's outfit would be suitable for a child.

'We're taking the necessary precautions because she isn't going to be a muse,' Edson Pereira said on the group's website. 'We can't transform a girl into a woman, much less explore any sensuality.'

Just before a rehearsal session this week, Julia was playing around with two other girls inside her dad's office. She stopped playing only when her mother, Monica, told her it was time to get dressed for practice.

A gregarious girl with a toothy grin, she declined to say much, despite the coaxing of her parents and samba instructor. She didn't like how her mother had fixed her hair and was in no mood to talk to a reporter.

Asked why she wanted to be the drum corps queen, Julia would only say quietly: 'I'm happy because I like to dance.'

That much is clear.

When she took the stage in front of more than 1,000 people at the rehearsal, she lit up as she presented a bouquet of roses to 30-year-old Juliana Paes, a top Brazilian actress who served as Viradouro's drum queen for five years.

Once the beats from the drum corps erupted, Julia dove into her samba routine.

Beyond the question of appropriateness is whether a 4ft (1.2m) girl weighing about 55lb can physically withstand the dancing during Viradouro's parade.

At the rehearsal, she was handed cups of water within 10 minutes of taking the stage and in 20 minutes started to look tired.

Her father emphasized that several people would be watching after her during the parade, that she would be able to rest and that every precaution would be taken to safeguard her health.

Regardless, some carnival fans don't see how Julia could be considered for the role.
'She is way too young to be parading down the avenue," said Jaquelene Oliveira, a 19-year-old college student.

'The role of the drum corps queen is to inspire the drummers to play hard for 80 minutes. It is an innately sexual role and to put a child in that position is wrong.'



source: dailymail