interestingly, often the very people that upheld the social order and made the rules they had to follow, were the ones wearing the masks.

more than anything, carnival balls and blocos have the roots of inverse realities and the wish for something else in common.

the fact that the revelers of blocos wear fantasias, while attendees of balls wear mascaras, is very telling.

while people at street events used costumes to be seen and to make a statement, at balls participants used costumes to break social codes and to hide their identity.

at balls, the elaborate costumes always included a mask meant to block the identity, so to engage in whatever whim they felt.