(Rio de Janeiro) Praise of tropical pleasures, fight of Afro-Brazilians for their freedom, shower of stars: the Rio Carnival parades offered their final bouquet on the night of Monday to Tuesday.
For the second night in a row, the prestigious samba schools competed at the Sambodrome, a 70,000-seat venue created 40 years ago by architect Oscar Niemeyer to host “the greatest show on Earth”, as the Cariocas like to say. .
One of the most delicious moments was the parade of the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel school, which delivered a tangy praise of cashew, a fruit with juice as tasty as its famous nut.
Even before the meeting at the Sambodrome, the parade song has become a hit in Brazil in recent weeks on streaming platforms, well beyond carnival aficionados – a rare phenomenon.
In a very different register, Portela, a school founded a century ago and therefore almost as old as samba, exalted black activism and the fight of the Brazilian abolitionist Luiz Gama in the 19th century.
“It’s a very emblematic subject for black people,” Alan Rocha, 43, a black actor and musician, told AFP as he got off a splendid “allegorical” float. “The black people in this wonderful Portela parade, it’s so good! », he says, in heaven.
The carioca carnival is also an opportunity to celebrate the history of samba and its great creators. For this edition, two big names were in the spotlight.
First Martinho da Vila, who made an appearance on a float of the Unidos de Vila Isabel school, for which he composed the song.
Then Alcione, singer with a powerful voice and countless classics, who is celebrating her 50th career this year. She was entitled to the vibrant tribute of Mangueira, one of the most glorious schools. She opened the ball and was able to count on the participation of her great friend Maria Bethania, another reference in Brazilian music.
Invented by communities descended from African slaves forced to Brazil, samba has become the emblem of Rio’s popular culture.
Most major samba schools, like Mangueira, are rooted in the city’s most popular neighborhoods. Mangueira is firstly the name of the favela where the school was founded 96 years ago.