TIME's Closeup

3/7/11: Rio de Janeiro
Not even a huge warehouse fire, which destroyed many floats and costumes last month, could keep Rio from going ape over its annual Carnaval parade, the thundering pre-Lenten bacchanal of samba and sensuality. Brazil, which will host a visit from President Obama this month, had extra reasons to revel this year: Its first female President, Dilma Rousseff, recently took office. And just before Carnaval started, officials announced that the country's economy had roared out of the recession with 7.5% growth in 2010 to become the world's seventh largest. The Portela dancers, the samba group worst hit by the warehouse fire, seemed emblematic of Brazil's resilience. — Tim Padgett

• Pictures of the Year 2010