1998
Carnaval Sans Frontières, has made the celebration of Carnaval the focus of Sidro's life work. In addition to producing and building floats for the annual Carnival de Nice, she writes books, produces carnival workshops for UNESCO in many countries and planned a huge "Carnival of Carnivals" to celebrate the Millennium.
Sidro's family was chosen in 1887 to build the King Carnival float in Nice. "In many ways, I see my life as already having being chosen for me by accident - and good fortune - of birth into a family of master carnival artists," Sidro said. "What I do now is to follow the traditions already established by my ancestors."
Those traditions include an understanding of humanity itself.
"Unless you understand the basic psychodrama of the human spirit, you miss the whole point of carnival," Sidro said.
"Carnival is the expression of the soul of the people. It is the exorcism of their most primitive conflicts of good vs. evil, fertility against barrenness, peace against chaos.
"Most importantly, carnival is a world sans frontiers, without boundaries of class, national origin, language, wealth or occupation - a world which unites all in a common creative expression."
Sidros' goals include establishing a Museum of Carnival and Carnival Cultural Center as an archive of carnival history and culture, and a University Without Walls, where the skills passed down from fathers to daughters and sons in the families of carnival float builders can also be shared with the family of man.