Christian Teco-Teco

This was the airplane chosen by the Christian team at the Cavalhada in Poconé to drop millions of blue and silver pieces of paper over the arena. I have to admit, I’m more interested in the airplane than in the paper. Maybe age is making me difficult.

The Cavalhada arrived in Mato Grosso in 1769 and, in Poconé, developed its own way of carrying on. The reenactment of the conflict between Christians and Moors remains part of the Saint Benedict festivities, surviving interruptions, revivals, and successive generations.

It is interesting to consider what a tradition takes in as it continues to evolve. The airplane has no place in the Cavalhada’s origins, yet it has become part of one of its rituals. A technology built for an entirely different purpose finds a place within an established cultural practice, serving the needs of a particular moment. The object remains what it is; its role changes with the circumstances around it.

Perhaps that is why I prefer the airplane to the paper. I am less interested in what is being dropped than in the machine brought in to do the job. Behind that choice is a history of decisions, one that says as much about the Cavalhada as it exists today as it does about its ability to endure.

What makes me like this photograph is the uneasiness I felt as the airplane was still entering the frame. Was it intentional, or was it a grotesque mistake? You decide. Either answer is right. The story is yours.