But there was a hitch in the recent casting call. The women wanted by Mocidade Independente Padre Miguel, one of Rio de Janeiro's best known Carnival troupes, had to be silicone-free.
In salute to a bygone era, Mocidade wanted Carnival dancers without the globular breasts and "bumbum," or buttocks, that now dominate the annual spectacle, a week-long party meant to purge sin before the Catholic season of Lent.
"It wasn't easy," says Paulo Menezes, the artistic director for the group, one of the 12 top-tier troupes that will march in Rio's Carnival starting on March 2. "Most of the women who want to take part in something like this have all had some surgery."
Beauty-obsessed Brazil boasts one of the world's highest rates of cosmetic surgery. With two-thirds the population, it runs a close second to the United States in its number of plastic surgeons and the number of surgeries performed, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
