Brazil: Carnaval is reborn at Rio’s sambadrome after two years of pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The cement and steel structures of Rio’s sambadrome came to life again after two years of involuntary sleep due to the pandemic when the first school stepped onto Marquês de Sapucaí on April 20, in the Gold Series, the official start of the off-season Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.

But before the schools, the privilege of debuting on the track were the members of the “velha guarda” (“old school”), carrying the banners of each organization, singing the composition Velha Guarda, by Dicró: “I am the old school, the backbone of samba.

This year, one of the mandatory precautions would be presenting proof of vaccination against covid-19, which is required from everyone to enter the parade site. However, as the Agência Brasil report found, people were passing through the turnstiles without having to present their vaccination passports.

In the order of the parades, the first school to return to the Sambadrome was Em Cima da Hora, at 09:50 PM, with the theme 33 – Destination Dom Pedro II, a reprint of the 1984 Carnaval, when the school paraded in the debut of the sambadrome in group 1-B, formerly the second division. The samba weaves a chronicle of the train journeys workers face to earn their bread in the Rio State capital. Dom Pedro II was the name of the train station that, in 1899, was renamed Central do Brasil.

Second to parade, Acadêmicos do Cubango, from Niterói, entered with a lot of energy, with all the members singing the samba, which raised the bleachers. It told the story of the actress Chica Xavier, who acted in more than 50 soap operas on television and made her debut at Rio’s Municipal Theater in 1956, in the play Orfeu da Conceição, by Vinícius de Moraes.

The São João de Meriti school, Unidos da Ponte, this year chose the theme Santa Dulce dos Pobres – o anjo bom da Bahia (Saint Dulce of the Poor – Bahia’s Good Angel), developed by the carnival designers Rodrigo Marques and Guilherme Diniz. The goal was to tell the story of the saint and present her legacy of social works.

Porto da Pedra, from São Gonçalo, bet on the theme O Caçador que Traz Traz Alegrias (The Hunter Who Brings Joy), to pay homage to Mother Stella de Oxóssi. The nephew of the important ialorixá from Bahia, obá Adriano Obiodun, is one of the composers of the samba-plot of the school.

União da Ilha, which will join the Access Group in 2020, chose the theme Nas Encruzilhadas da Vida, Entre Becos, Ruas e Vielas, a Sorte Está Lançada: Salve-se Quem Puder! (At the Crossroads of Life, Among Alleyways, Streets, and lanes, the die is cast: Save Yourself!)

Unidos de Bangu has chosen the theme “Deu Castor na Cabeça” (A Beaver in the Head) as a tribute to the gambler Castor de Andrade, intertwining the life of the Carnaval and soccer patron with the history of the West Zone neighborhood and of Bangu Atlético soccer club.

Last to parade on the first day of the Gold Series was Acadêmicos do Sossego, with the theme Visões Xamânicas (Shamanic Visions). The carnivalesque André Rodrigues created a shaman to lead the audience through his visions.

On April 21, it will be the turn of the other schools in the Gold Series to parade at Marquês de Sapucaí: Lins Imperial, Inocentes de Belford Roxo, Estácio de Sá, Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz, Unidos de Padre Miguel, Acadêmicos de Vigário Geral, Império da Tijuca, and Império Serrano.

With information from Agência Brasil