Samba school
Encyclopedia
A samba school is a club or dancing school. They practice and often perform in huge square-compound
Compound (enclosure)
Compound when applied to a human habitat refers to a cluster of buildings in an enclosure, having a shared or associated purpose, such as the houses of an extended family...

s ("quadras de samba") devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...

, an African-Brazilian dance. The schools are traditionally associated with a particular neighborhood, often shanty towns ("favela
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...

"). Throughout the year the samba schools have various happenings and events, most important of which are rehearsals for the main event which is the yearly carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

.

Carnival parade

The parades during carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

 are a showcase of each "escola" enhanced by the participation of celebrities, fans and guests who often pay large sums of money for their costumes. Those who choose to only watch the parade may also be charged for the best seats. Each school displays glamour in colorful costumes and floats with special effects and is organized into different segments or "alas". The "alas" represent different components of the school's theme, or "enredo", as they act out a homage to a myth, historic event or figure, or express their view on a social, environmental or international issue. The "alas" display distinct costumes or "fantasias" and also reflect traditional samba school roles developed years ago. Thus, each samba school parade has the "comissao de frente"; individuals who open the parade by walking in social attires, saluting the crowds; the "ala das Baianas", or the traditional segment of Bahian African-Brazilian ladies with impressive round dresses spinning through the avenue; the "puxadores" (lead singers) singing the "samba-enredo" or theme-song while they play the "cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...

" or other string instruments; the "velha guarda," or veterans who made history in the school; the "bateria
Bateria
The term bateria means “drum kit” in Portuguese and Spanish. In Brazil, the word is also used for a form of Brazilian samba band, the percussion band or rhythm section of a Samba School...

", or samba band with drums, "cuicas" and other instruments, preceded by the "madrinha da bateria", or band godmother who is often a sexy female celebrity. The "porta-bandeira", or the female flag holder, and the "meste-sala", or male cortsy, display and salute the school's flag, as they dance and strive to show harmony and samba expertise, as their performance is carefully observed and scored by the judges.

Rio and Sao Paulo

"Cariocas", the Rio natives, and "Paulistanos", São Paulo natives, are overtaken with emotion while performing or watching their favorite school, much more so in Rio, where a carnival samba school culture has been developed since the 1930s and samba rehearsals, costume making, and planning is a year-round event. It is often said that samba school slum dweller may not have a job or food on the table the whole year, but they will make sure they have the money for their costume to show their "samba no pe'" or dancing skills expertise.

As samba schools originated in Rio de Janeiro, they are today the most famous ones and, arguably, produce the most spectacular parades or, as it is often said, the "greatest show on Earth." The city of São Paulo also has a number of samba schools with some tradition that is linked to an interesting mixture of African-Brazilian display of pride, immigrant or working class activism, and soccer team fondness, as schools such as "Gavioes da Fiel", "Mancha Verde" began as rooting singing/dancing group that cheered during matches in São Paulo stadiums. Nearly all Brazilian states have samba schools, but states such as Bahia and Pernambuco tend to have floats that lead a crowd composed of general people, without the need for membership, rehearsals or even a special attire. Some groups do charge a certain amount of money for the "abadás," or colorful t-shirts that display affiliation to a specific group, or "bloco".

Organization of samba schools

A significant majority of the samba schools, mainly in Rio de Janeiro, have in their name the words Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba (Recreative Guild Samba School), represented by the acronym GRES, before the name itself. In São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 there is a common variation Grêmio Recreativo Cultural e Escola de Samba (Recreative Cultural Guild and Samba School). There are exceptions, such as the Sociedade Rosas de Ouro (Golden Rose Society) and the traditional Agremiação Recreativa Cultural e Escola de Samba Vizinha Faladeira (grêmio and agremiação in Portuguese are synonyms). The standardization of the classifications of entities emerged in 1935 when the Rio carnival associations were required to take a charter to the Delegacia de Costumes e Diversões (Delegation of Customs and Entertainment) to be able to parade. In an effort to show a modicum of decency and organization, the delegate owner, Dulcídio Gonçalves, refused to grant the permit to associations with "inappropriate" names, which is why the GRES Portela had to change to the current name, instead of the previous Vai Como Pode (Come as You Will).

The samba school system seems to be unique to Brazil. Unlike parades such as the Rose Parade in California, for instance, the samba schools organizations consists almost entirely community volunteer work. More than musical groups, the schools are in fact the neighborhood associations that cover a variety of community needs, such as educational resources and medical care. There are often political and commercial interests involved as well, even from abroad, especially when the samba school honors the literature, music and dance, or a myth, historic figure or event from another country. Drug lords who control traffic in the Rio favelas are also said to contribute financially to schools, as many of them are guardians and controllers of shanty town life.

History

The origins of samba schools is linked to the history of carnival in Rio itself, as well as the creation of the modern samba. The first parades, or "cortumes," as Luso-Brazilians called them, were more exclusive events and used to have white revelers, rather than mostly African-Brazilian like nowadays. The rhythms were often the "marchinhas," with a more Portuguese or European flair. Samba players from a group called Estácio were the pioneers of present-day samba schools, with the founding of "Deixa Falar", or Let Me Speak in 1928. Ismael Silva seems to have been the first to have come up with idea of creating "blocos de Carnaval" in which groups could dance and move to the sound of samba rhythms and sounds.

The first samba school contests began in 1929 and were held at the home of Zé Espinguela, where his Conjunto Oswaldo Cruz
GRES Portela
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Portela is one of the most traditional samba schools of the city of Rio de Janeiro.- History :In the beginning of the 20th century, in Oswaldo Cruz, there was the carnivalesque group of dancers called Quem Fala de Nós Come Mosca , of Dona Ester...

 won and Mangueira and Deixa Falar also competed for the title. Some consider this as the starting point leading to the development of present-day samba schools.

However, between 1930 and 1932, these were only considered a variation of the blocks, and in 1932 the owner of Mundo Sportivo, Mário Filho, decided to sponsor the first Parade of Samba Schools in the Praça Onze [10]. Composers such as Antônio Nassar, Armando Reis and Orestes Barbosa) had the idea organizing a Carnival parade which was supported by local newspapers. Newspaper owners and journalists such as Mário Filho and his brother Nélson Rodrigues
Nélson Rodrigues
Nelson Falcão Rodrigues was a Brazilian playwright, journalist and novelist. In 1943, he helped usher in a new era in Brazilian theater with his play Vestido de Noiva , considered revolutionary for the complex exploration of its characters' psychology and its use of colloquial dialog...

, who did not have much to write about after the end of the soccer season, joined journalist Carlos Pimentel, who was connected to samba personalities in holding a parade at Praca XI square.

At the invitation of "Sports World," 19 schools attended. The newspaper established the criteria for judging the participating schools and nowadays news network still have some say on the parades as they strife for fairness and high quality, especially because a lot o money is invested on TV networks that have the broadcasting rights on the parades. Newspapers and magazines make huge profits as well. The traditional "ala das Baianas" was a prerequisite to compete, and the schools, all with more than one hundred members, should present sambas unpublished and not use pipe instruments, among other requirements.

The winning school was the Mangueira
GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Mangueira is one of the most traditional and best supported Samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. It was founded on April 28th, 1928 in Morro da Mangueira, near the region of Maracanã by Carlos Cachaça, Cartola, Zé Espinguela, Nelson Cavaquinho, among others...

, while the second group had the Conjunto Osvaldo Cruz, or Portela. The officials assured the success of the contest remained up in Praca XI Square in 1941. Over time, the samba schools took many elements brought by ranches, such as the plot, the pair of mestre-sala cortsy and flag holder and the opening committee, elements with which Ismael Silva disagreed.
With the rise of populist dictator Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...

 and the foundation of the General Union of Samba Schools in 1934, the marginalization of samba persisted for some time. Then, it regained power and began to expand and gain importance in the Rio carnival, supplanting the ranches carnival. It did not take long for the samba schools to expand to other states, with the foundation in 1935 of the "Primeira São Paulo" (First of São Paulo), the first school of samba de São Paulo. The official competitions of the samba schools in São Paulo only started in 1950 with the victory of Lavapés, but before that there were other minor tournaments at the municipal and state levels. In the early 60's some organized soccer support fan groups, like the Vai-Vai (Go-Go) and the Camisa Verde e Branco (Green and White Jersey) became samba schools.

Due to the large number of schools, in 1952, the access league "Grupo de Acesso" was created in order to allow news schools in and promote them to the "premier league" only if they aboded by certain rules of excellence. That year, the parade of the access league (Group 2, current Group RJ-1) went seamlessly, but the parade of the main group (Group 1, currently the Special Group)was carried out under heavy rain. The judging results were canceled and all schools belonging to the access league were promoted to the "premier league".

In 1953 UGESB
União Geral das Escolas de Samba do Brasil
The União Geral das Escolas de Samba do Brasil - General Union of the Samba Schools of Brazil - or was the first entity that represented the samba schools...

 and FBES
Federação Brasileira de Escolas de Samba
The Federação Brasileira de Escolas de Samba , or FBES, was an organisation that represented the samba schools of the city of Rio de Janeiro...

Association of Schools of Samba City in Rio de Janeiro
Associação das Escolas de Samba da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro
The Associação das Escolas de Samba da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro - Association of Samba Schools of the City of Rio de Janeiro - or AESCRJ, is an association of the samba schools of city of Rio de Janeiro that administrated the Carnaval of all the groups since 1953. The AESCRJ was founded on March 5...

, merged as LIESA, an association of samba schools from the premier league which became know in Portuguese as Grupo Especial. In 2008, LESGA was created, representing schools from the access league. LIESA inspired the creation of similar bodies in other cities, such as LIGA-SP.

In 1984, Rio de Janeiro governor Leonel Brizola
Leonel Brizola
Leonel de Moura Brizola was a Brazilian politician. Launched in politics by Getúlio Vargas, Brizola was the only politician to serve as governor of two different states in the whole history of Brazil. In 1959 he was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1982 and 1990 he was elected...

 dedicated the Sambadrome, a special space for the parading of samba schools. Years later, in São Paulo, Mayor Luiza Erundina
Luiza Erundina
- Political history :From 1980 to 1997 she was affiliated with the PT party . In 1997 she changed to the PSB party. Erundina served on the São Paulo city council from 1983-1987. From 1987-1988 she was a state deputy for the state of São Paulo. She was São Paulo's mayor from 1989 to 1992, and is...

 did the same, creating the Anhembi Sambadrome.

Today, many other cities throughout the country also have their Sambadromes, including Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....

 and in 1993 its parade was broadcast for the first time.

Characterization

Since associations of nature almost always local, largely from poor communities or the suburbs, the samba schools usually represented in a fashion district, sub-district or set of districts, a parade which usually has local character, where all or at least the main schools of the city gather to compete among themselves for the best of the year. In this show, are evaluated by a committee of judges chosen in advance by their leaders or by the representative.

The committee considers each of the questions, giving notes to each, with each juror believes only one question, now, the envelopes with the notes are in a sealed envelope after the parade, and calls for secrecy on the assessment until the day determination of when the board members and key, beyond twisted, attend to a predetermined location to be found the notes, as well known champion of the year. On the day of determination, the final assessment of the panel can be changed from the application of certain penalties, which all are subject, by breaks certain rules, such as the requirement to display a given time, the display of a minimum of components and prohibition of any of them provide fully naked.

While the parades of the samba schools have local characteristics, some entities often share the parade is the city where its headquarters at parade neighboring municipalities. The school of samba in Brasil de Santos has been champion of the carnival capital of São Paulo, while in Rio de Janeiro, GRES Acadêmicos do Grande Rio
GRES Acadêmicos do Grande Rio
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Acadêmicos do Grande Rio is a samba school of the Special Group of the carnaval of the city of Rio de Janeiro, being headquartered on Almirante Barroso street in Duque de Caxias.- History :...

, GRES Unidos do Porto da Pedra, Ponte, GRES Beija-Flor are GRES Unidos do Viradouro are samba schools of cities in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro that parade in the capital, and the latter two have won the championship.

This phenomenon is repeated in the Vitoria with the MUG, in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...

 with the Vila Isabel de Viamão, in Curitiba
Curitiba
Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...

 with the Unidos dos Pinhais, in Belém do Pará, with the Caprichosos da Cidade Nova and Macapá
Macapá
Macapá is a Brazilian city, capital of Amapá state. Located in the North Region, it is the only state capital that has no highway connections with other capitals...

, with the Império do Povo. Cities of the Baixada Santista
Baixada Santista
Baixada Santista is an official metropolitan area on the coast of the São Paulo state originally centered around the port city of Santos. Its administrative center is located at Santos, because local economics and politics revolves around that city...

 (Santos, Guarujá
Guarujá
Guarujá is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. The population in 2006 was 305,171, the population density is 1,969.47/km² and the area is 143 km². This place name comes from the Tupi language, and mean "narrow path". The population is highly urbanized.-Geography:Guarujá is...

, São Vicente
São Vicente
São Vicente may refer to:-In Africa:In Cape Verde* São Vicente, Cape Verde, an island in Cape Verde* São Vicente, Guinea-Bissau, a village in Guinea-Bissau-In the Americas:In Brazil...

, Praia Grande
Praia Grande
Praia Grande is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil.-Population history:- History :Although the political emancipation is recent, the area covered today by the municipality of Praia Grande was one of the first areas colonized by the Portuguese, which began with the arrival of Martim...

 and Cubatão) is common to see schools change the parade, and to the several cities organize a single event (Regional Carnival). Historically it is also common the participation of the samba schools of Niterói
Niterói
Niterói is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast region of Brazil. It has an estimated population of 487,327 inhabitants and an area of ², being the sixth most populous city in the state and the highest Human Development Index. Integrates the Metropolitan Region of Rio de...

 in São Gonçalo
São Gonçalo
-Brazil:*São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro*São Gonçalo do Amarante, Rio Grande do Norte*São Gonçalo do Amarante, Ceará*São Gonçalo do Abaeté, Minas Gerais*São Gonçalo dos Campos, Bahia*São Gonçalo do Gurguéia, Piauí*São Gonçalo do Pará, Minas Gerais...

 and contrariwise.

Parade

In major cities, the parade of the samba school currently takes about an hour, with some variations according to the rules imposed by the organization of the carnival in the city, where schools generally have less time in groups of children parade [24 ] [25] [26]. Special Group in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the parade has a maximum time of one hour and twenty minutes [27], while in São Paulo is the maximum of 1 hour and five minutes [28]. Along the track, are scattered with stop watches to mark the space of time between the exit of the first component of the merger and the arrival of the last component to the dispersion, when it finally closed the gate and the show is officially closed.

Concentration

Also called the heats, is the time before the parade started, where all components are deployed, waiting their turn to enter the parade on the track. While the school is closing its parade before the end of the runway, another microphone is switched on at the beginning of it, so that the leaders of the school will parade to pass a message to your community, wishing luck and dedication to constituents asking, among other messages the type. Sambas old and best known are sung and the battery begins to play a kind of heating.

After the end of a parade, the narrator announces the school next to their plot, and the sound of the microphone, but restricted to only a part of sambódromo, is released so that everyone can hear in the bleachers. Then is sung the allusive and then given the cry of war, after which the parade itself begins, and the timer starts to run. The time of concentration usually last on average about ten minutes.

The "alusive" is the songs are depicting the handles of samba-sing during the plot heats up. The allusive itself is a recitation of one or two sentences that paraphrase the actual plot of the school that year, but are also called by the name of the samba-school anthem, the samba-samba of exaltation or the court.

Examples of sambas sung often, year after year, the concentrations are the Camisa Verde e Branco of the Unidos do Peruche, da Gaviões da Fiel, of the Nenê de Vila Matilde, the Estação Primeira de Mangueira and Estácio.

Already the cries of war are typical expressions of each handle to announce the start of the parade and call each of the members of the samba school to sing with the greatest determination possible. In general, the performers have their personal battle cry, which lead from each time you move to college, or who will defend a round in a samba school than their [37].

However, cries of war and not related to the school to handle, such as the X-9 Paulistana, "Sing X, X sings, sings X-9." Or the "Look for Beija-Flor people there", connected to the Beija-Flor, but created and run by Neguinho of Beija-Flor, which has always followed the school.

Requisites

Several elements are part of the characterization of a parade of the samba school, and some questions to which the jury should assign notes. Others, like the wing of Bahia, however, are not considered as items, but can cause loss of points for the body anyway, if not shown.

Commission of Front

It is the forefront of school, the first group of parade participants, which is a mandatory condition. It consists of about ten to fifteen people who perform a choreography by introducing the plot. Apart from the front of the committee, there is no other rule regarding the order of the elements during the parade of samba schools.

The committees have the front part, with that name, corporate carnival, and, subsequently, incorporated into ranches and cords carnival. Functioning as a sort of master of ceremonies of the show by welcoming the public and presenting the school, the commission on the front of the samba schools have undergone many changes over time. In its early years, were formed by a group of men, the general directors of the college, which came in front of the school wearing their best clothes and welcome the public. Is that sometimes carry sticks to hands, whose prime objective was to defend his group of rivals.

The Portela samba school in the commission made more refined, where its components parade with elegant clothes, even occasionally with tails and top hat, a model which soon came to be copied by other schools. That was the policy of its most illustrious member, Paulo da Portela, which meant that Sambistas should always go well dressed, in order to dispel the negative image that was taken on them by the higher classes, as blocks and cords, predecessors of the schools, they had a reputation of being supporters of street fights and street riot.

The Vizinha Faladeira in 30 years, tried to innovate, bringing the commission into limousine and mounted on horseback, as in large companies. This fact at first was very criticized by the judges including the only year in which the school won the Santo Cristo, because it alleged that despite having adhering to the rules, that such resources were unrelated to what a school of samba should display . In 1938 the committee moved forward an item to be regulated. With the arrival of visual artists in schools, many have changed their form since the committees were very similar among themselves. Because of this, has been replaced by the formal dress costumes, linked to the plot, showing marked steps, tested by professional dancers. At the end of the 90s, there is already a massive presence of circus artists, theater groups, use of special maquilagens with many visual effects and the use of tripods.

At the end of the 70s, with the release of customs, committees are formed by half naked women, which in March were the main sculptural mulata the carnival of 1979 the Imperatriz Leopoldinense. A model which is just copying, but the trend was to show committees increasingly rich attire, with movements Choreographic increasingly prepared. That does not mean that the traditional committees have disappeared from the front: the Portela, for example, maintained the tradition of using the old guard to the 1990s, and some schools even bring one or other such committee, as was the case of Roses Gold in 2003. [43] To date, the regulation does not require major parades in front of the committees to submit within the plot.

Allegories and props

The question comes to cars with allegory axis of iron, filled with sculptures of wood, plastic, Styrofoam, among other materials, decorated to represent the elements of the plot. In Special Group of Rio, currently, the floats may not exceed eight meters and fifty centimeters wide and nine meters and eighty centimeters tall. Several people usually on top of parade floats, and those who occupy the highest places called highlights.

The first float of the parade is called the car opens the wings, and its front usually see the name of the school, so stylized. Some schools, such as Portela for example, always bring-in opens its wings symbol (in the case of college, the eagle), regardless of plot. The greatest cars arrive to reach up to 13 meters high and 60 meters length, which sometimes affect their entry into the place of parade. These cars are usually driven by people who are below or behind the allegory. No car can be moved to animal traction, and during the 90s, it was to prevent the motor, due to the risk of fire.

Progress, harmony and joint

Evolution is a question which is judged the speed and how the components of the samba school parade: they are lively dancing, spinning, moving, and if so are compact, close to each other, so that anyone looking from above has the impression that the school is a single body, a continuous row. There is no requirement that the components samba, but they must move. Schools that suffer dramatic changes in its parade speed, parading sometimes very quickly, sometimes slowly, are usually penalized.

In line item is evaluated the interaction between the corner and the official interpreter of the components. Schools where the participants do not sing the samba, or sing badly, receiving lower this question.

But the whole question was absent for many years, being brought back to the Rio parades from 2000. is actually an overview of the whole school, in uniform, where a group of judges evaluates all by high the interaction between the various items. In 2006, AESCRJ approved the merger of the items Evolution, Harmony and set a new item: "Set Harmonic."

Plot-theme

As a feature of the parades, the plot, usually chosen at the beginning of the year, right after the carnival, the carnival is valid for the following year. Meanwhile, from the main theme of the carnival should all write a synopsis, which guide the manufacture of costumes, floats and samba-composition of the plot. In this question, evaluators must judge whether the school and explained the plot during the parade, from those other questions.

Samba-plot

  • main article samba-enredo
    Samba-enredo
    Samba-enredo is a sub-genre of Samba in which songs are performed by a samba school for the festivities of Carnaval. "Samba-enredo" is the Portuguese equivalent of "samba in song", or "song samba"....



You should assess whether the samba, and from the plot and has a good melody and lyrics of the interesting features, musically rich, and without bias or errors of language of agreement. Sambas that have this feature tend to be penalized, receiving less. The samba of each school is chosen after a domestic dispute at the school, where Sambistas or groups create their sambas, based on previously defined plot. After sign up, compete, and over several weekends, some are being eliminated, until only about a samba. In Rio de Janeiro, the compositions to eliminate internal usually recorded in August. In October it recorded a CD of the Special Group, with sambas in each school in the voice of the official interpreter

Until 2007, the Special Group of São Paulo, the samba-item plot was tried twice, and divided into lyrics and melody of music, each taking notes of the same weight as the other.

Mestre-sala and Porta-Bandeira

The mestre-sala (The master of the Room)and porta-bandeira (she who carries the flag)displays the flag of the school to the audience. The porta-bandeira carries the flag, and the mestre-sala pays tribute and draws attention to both the flag and the porta-bandeira. Her dance is not a samba, but she spins and boughs her way ahead. The mestre-sala dances around her. All their moves are regulated in a set of rules, and at one point during the parade they are evaluated by the judges. The slightest mistake may result in their scores being lowered. For example: it is forbidden that the two give their backs to each other at the same time, and errors such as the drop of a hat or a slips will result in lower scores. Their costumes are similar to the gala costumes typical of the eighteenth century, but "carnavalized", i.e. with an exaggerated amount of colors and decorations.

Currently, at least since the 90s, the schools of the Special Group of Rio and São Paulo parade usually with three or four pairs of mestre-salas and porta-bandeira, but only the first is evaluated, the other being merely decorative, and optional. Normally, there to represent the school in some events where the main couple is unable to.

The term mestre-sala seems to have been the carnival dances of the nineteenth century, in which there was a professional organization responsible for the hall that was called "master of room" or "master-room." With respect to the porta-bandeira the name was a natural adaptation of the old flag-bearer, character, usually male, who carries the heavy banners of Brazilian carnival groups
.

Bateria

The bateria is a kind of orchestra of percussion instruments. They accompany the singer and lead the pace of the parade. The faster and stronger pace in the bateria, the faster members usually parade. Each school has, currently, an average 250 to 300 musicians. Every bateria is evaluated on "the regular maintenance and support of the cadence ... in accordance with the Samba Theme: the perfect combination of sounds emitted by various tools, the creativity and versatility of the bateria."

The following instrumentation usually form part of a bateria of the samba school: Surdo
Surdo
For the football player of the same name see Surdu.The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, most notably in Axé/Samba-reggae and samba and its variants, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section....

 de primera, surdo
Surdo
For the football player of the same name see Surdu.The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, most notably in Axé/Samba-reggae and samba and its variants, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section....

 de segunda, surdo
Surdo
For the football player of the same name see Surdu.The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, most notably in Axé/Samba-reggae and samba and its variants, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section....

 de terceira, caixa de guerra, repinique
Repinique
A repinique is a two-headed Brazilian drum used in samba baterias . It is used in the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Carnival baterias and in the baterias of Bahia, where it is known as repique. It is equivalent to the tom-tom in the non-Brazilian drum kit or to the tenor drum in marching bands...

, chocalho
Chocalho
Chocalho is the generic name for “shaker” in Portuguese. There are various types of idiophones using this name in Portuguese, not always being the same instrument:*a shaker;*a kind of jingle stick used to play samba music;*a cowbell;...

, tambourim, cuíca
Cuíca
Cuíca , or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound....

, agogô
Agogô
An agogô is a single or multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba music and also in the samba baterias . The agogô may be the oldest samba instrument and was based on West African Yoruba single or double bells...

, reco-reco, and frigedeira. There are variations in composition, for example, the samba-school Mangueria, does not use the surdo de segunda, only surdo de primeira and terceira, while the samba-school Empire Serrano emphasizes the agogô.

In the 1960s came the "Paradinha" ("little stop") of Mestre André, famous director of Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, which was in fact the creator of the musical effect in which during the development of the parade, the bateria suddenly stop playing, leaving only the cavaquinho and voice components, to return then, so surprising and exciting. The expected effect, considered beautiful by the critics, is also risky because it increases the chances that the samba "cross" (the term used to describe failures Sambistas usually serious, committed by components of the school, which back in the wrong spot of the letter samba at the expense of others who are singing "together" with the interpreter (handle) of the school.

In 1997 the parade was the feeling of the battery Viradouro that at different times during the parade, ran the pace of funk briefly
.

Director of Battery

As a whole orchestra, the batteries of the samba schools also hold its conductor, who is the director in the case of battery, also called master of battery and the auxiliary of the master in turn also called Directors. In Mangueira, there is also the position of chairman of the battery, which was occupied by Ivo Meirelles.

Queen of drums section and related

The queen of the drums section and related roles: godmother, muse, and princess are positions of honor occupied by distinguished members of the community and sometimes by celebrities. The queen of the drums section dances ahead of the drummers group and sometimes interacts with them.

The figure of the queen of the drums section appeared in the 70s when the famous mulatto Adele Fatima led the Youth Independent Drums Section, an unprecedent fact, and gained popularity in the following decade. Today it is one of the most celebrated roles in samba schools. Monique Evans, in Mocidade, Luma de Oliveira
Luma de Oliveira
Luma de Oliveira is a former model, actress and Brazilian carnival queen. She was Madrinha da Bateria for a number of samba schools up until 2005, before returning to the role for the famous Portela school in 2009.-Early life:Luma was born in the hospital of Cantagalo, in the...

, in Tradição and Soninha Capeta, in the Beija Flor, were some notable queens of drumming sections. Some schools introduced the figure of the King of the drums section.

The godmother of the drumming section is similar to the queen, and the two often get confused. Many schools use the two roles to pay tribute to more women. In the 80s, many schools began to choose famous TV actresses instead of girls from the community, raising controversy in the media. In theory, the position of godmother should be offered to women of importance in the history of the school or in daily life, on a lifelong basis, which does not change every year, as the position of queen, but this is often not the case and the godmother only a queen with another name.

Ala das Baianas

The "ala das baianas" is considered one of the most important for a school of samba. Composed, preferably, by ladies dressed in clothes that refer to old aunts of the first groups of Bahia samba of the early twentieth century, in Rio de Janeiro. Was introduced in the parade even in 30 years as a tribute to the "aunts" of samba, which Sambistas refuge in their homes at the time when the pace was sidelined. It is mandatory for all wing parades of samba schools, although not official in any aspect of them. The fantasies of Bahia count points for the question how Fantasy points for the parade to question evolution, but every school must be submitted with a minimum of Bahia. In the years 40 to 50, it was common for men to parade dressed Bahia, a practice that is now prohibited in Rio de Janeiro in the 90s, but was released by AESCRJ in the Group to access, from the year 2006, except for Group A (current group access that from the Carnival 2009 will belong to LESGA)

The traditional clothing of Bahia consists of torso, coat, cloth and skirt round the coast. However, often we can see Bahia with the most unusual costumes, such as brides, statues of liberty, space beings, globe (pictured) or oil wells.

In 2010, the ala das baianas virara quesito das escolas de samba dos Grupos Rio de Janeiro, pertencentes a AESCRJ.

Old-guard

The old guard (in Portuguese "Velha Guarda") is a group of samba dancers older, often already quite old, often the founders of schools that no longer hold positions within the hierarchy of the party, but that is a separate department, and the Carnival parade in positions of honor, dressed in carnival costumes not conventional, but clothing dress, typical of samba, such suits in school colors and Panama-style hats.

In 2006, the traditional old-guard of Portela was prevented from parading during carnival, under the claim of the President of the school, the parade was late and the school could only leave the track after the maximum time allowed, which draw many points. This fact caused great impact and emotion among Sambistas

Singer

The singer, also known as the performer or puller is responsible for the professional conduct of the samba-plot during the parade, usually aided by a group of supporting singers. Porting microphone, usually more powerful than the support of the singers, his voice stands out on the other members of the school, making this his goal of the rate the song can be completed.
The traditional term "handle" on the assumption that the samba during the parade should not be interpreted by one or few people, but sung by the entire school, the music should only be "pulled" (initiated) by the minority group. Moreover, many believe that the handle would be a special category of performer, able not only to its interpretation of a samba, but also and mainly from the school and encourage the audience.

From the 1990s, Jamelão
Jamelão
José Bispo Clementino dos Santos was a Brazilian samba singer known as Jamelão . He began in music as a tamborim player, but later became known as the official singer at samba school Mangueira's carnaval parades, performing in every Carnaval from 1949 to 2006...

, da Mangueira, has criticized the traditional term, seeking to replace it with a new terminology: Interpreter of samba-plot. In the words of Jamelão, who would handle "smoke pull, pull cart, pull-bag" (in original "puxa fuma fumo, puxa carro, puxa saco"; in Rio de janeiro's giria, "smoke marijuana, steals veicule, yes-man") which in his opinion, a derogatory term. From this, many commentators and TV stations began to replace the first by the second term, which however, still remains.

Another controversy that is still common for interpreters is the question whether or not anti-ethical the official interpreter at a school participate in the internal dispute of their own college. Some schools prohibit this, but release their professionals to participate in tryouts for other schools.

Carnivalesco

See attached: List of carnivalescos

It is the professional responsible for design and development of the plot to be submitted by a school of samba as well as the design, development and construction of floats and costumes related to the proposed plot for this. In some cases, the carnival develop the plot from a topic proposed by the direction of the school of samba. In others, he suggests the theme of an idea from its original.

Many have a carnival or any connection with visual arts, performing arts, theater or dance.

Already the committee when the carnival is not only a carnavalesco is responsible for the school, but a number of different carnivalescos who together decide the paths of college. Currently, the Commission does not only Carnival Carnival, but also manages other sectors of the samba schools of.

Dirigents

It is the name by which may be called the president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

, the president of honor and patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...

 of the school. You can also refer to this way of carnival directors. A director of carnival is a director of the samba school that sends professionals hired the guidelines of the philosophy of carnival of college, taking part in the selection of members of various sectors, even sometimes the plot, coordinating also the shed where the floats are made, the purchase of equipment, payments and the development of the entire project of the school, is not uncommon for directors of Carnival are paid professionals. Many also include the executive directors of the samba school, such as Laíla, of Beija-Flor.

You can also refer to the director this way of harmony, which is originally a term used to conceptualize a director of the samba school that has the mission of the parade order and coordinate the development of schools of samba, preventing accumulation or large spaces, and above all, ensuring that the timing. Directors are responsible for harmony, therefore, the questions progress, harmony and all.

Apuração

The result of the carnival competition is announced on the afternoon of Ash Wednesday in Rio, and on the afternoon of Tuesday of carnival in São Paulo. In both cities, there is a kind of ceremony where longlines are armed in sambódromo site. Tents are armed position where the representatives of each school, which will annotate the notes as they are being disseminated, making the calculations. The chairman of the league makes the final considerations about the carnival that year, reads the possible loss of points given to each school, and then start reading the notes.

The bleachers are open to the public, and the charge for entry, usually one kilogram of non-perishable food. Both in Rio and in São Paulo, the event, which lasts between a half and hour, is transmitted by television, which puts cameras in real time to monitor the movement of blocks within the main school, the title favorite, where members and fans that sambódromo were not to gather to watch the event from there.

The notes currently range between 7 and 10 in Rio and São Paulo, and admitted the decimal fractions in the capital fluminense and fractionation in 25 hundredths in São Paulo. In Rio, all the marks given by all the jurors are valid, while in São Paulo the lowest note of each item is eliminated .

However, this system has changed several times in both cities. In Rio and São Paulo, until the early 2000s, the division was more than half a point, and there have been years when there was also the elimination of major note given to each school, the very removal of the lower notes have also and has ceased to be part of the rule several times. In Rio de Janeiro, the lowest note in the same period was 5, and note the 0 (zero) allowed only in case of failure of the plot.

Often the notes given by the jurors are questioned, both by fans, as by members of schools who are harmed, causing many complaints after the show. Some results have been controversial stop in court. In the case of the school of samba Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz
GRES Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz is a samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro, located in the Rua do Império, in Santa Cruz's neighborhood. Among the schools of samba of the Rio Carnival it is the one that locates more distant of the Sambadrome...

 that the dark parade carnival in 1991 because of a blackout and was not evaluated . However, in recent years in São Paulo has been the climate of acceptance of the outcome, when in 2007 the president of Tobias Go-Go Live congratulate the Youth Alegre, being greeted by members of the Lemon school the following year.

Parade of Champions

It is a show set in the 1980s, where the best schools of samba of the Special Group parade again in sambódromo, at the end of the week following the carnival. This parade has no competitive character, it is only a kind of festival to crown the year's best schools, where the parade foliões can more carefree with questions .

In São Paulo the parade of champions is the night between Friday night and after the carnival on Saturday. Already the parade in Rio is the night of Saturday to the early hours of Sunday. In Rio de Janeiro, until the 1990s, participated in the parade of champions also promoted the schools of the Group to access, something that remains in São Paulo. Tradition was considered also in the participation of society Rio carnival hundred Italian Carnevale D'Italia. In 1985, an event that is considered integral to the history of Nene de Vila Matilde, was when the school was invited to join the parade of champions Rio, in an era where the Carnival Paulistano was much less popular and have not had a proper space.

Not always, however, the parade of champions was a moment of pure celebration: many schools have taken the day to protest against the outcome of the championship. Fifth-placed in 2005, the Vai-Vai no parade that year. The Viradouro already the champions parade on Saturday with members using the clown nose and banners of protest.

See also

  • Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro
    Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro
    The Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro - Independent League of the Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro - or LIESA, is the principal association that organizes the Carnival of the city of Rio de Janeiro....

  • Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba de São Paulo
    Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba de São Paulo
    The Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba de São Paulo - Independent League of the Samba Schools of São Paulo - or LigaSP is an entity that administrates the Special and Access Groups of the Carnaval of São Paulo....

  • Bateria
    Bateria
    The term bateria means “drum kit” in Portuguese and Spanish. In Brazil, the word is also used for a form of Brazilian samba band, the percussion band or rhythm section of a Samba School...


External links

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