Rio Carnival gets bigger

The mixture of these different groups would require a kind of dialogue between them. Soon the mutual influences were evident as the popular carnival began adopting the costumes and the characteristics of the organization of bourgeois revelry. The carnival societies, in turn, began to incorporate many of the rhythms and sounds typical of popular games.

The result of all this is that from the streets of Rio de Janeiro would arise a variety of groups, representing all types of possible inter-influences. This multiplicity of forms, the freedom allowed the variety of organizational groups, brought the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro to its own identity: carnival carioca. It was an identity forged in the streets, by using dialogue to resolve tensions.

The popular carnival

This form of classification lasted until the 1930s, when the mayor in Rio de Janeiro, Pedro Ernesto, became involved as the party official. From then, newspapers began promoting the competitions, with items being published in the press and other journalistic works. Eventually separate games became popular in watertight categories, each with its own story and its own format.  Participants were groups such as blocks, ranches, cords, Ze Pereiras, Corsicans and societies.

Crowning the movement in 1958,  the book “History of the Rio Carnival”, researched by Eneida de Moraes, was published.  It established itself as the founding text of revelry Rio and, by extension, Brazil.

The schools of samba

At the end of the 1920s, Brazil sought to create an identity that would distinguish itself within the new world order established after the First World War. The concept of negritude is highlighted showing the world cultural productions such as black art and African jazz. The carnival party and the new base of newly emerged black samba would become the basis for the formulation of a sense of Brasilia.

The recovery of samba and blackness would increase the interest of intellectuals in the new “groups of samba” which appeared in the hills of Rio. Such groups would be present “in the asphalt,” i.e. away from the ghettos of the hills.  These groups came to be referred to as samba schools.

Treated initially as a kind of folk curiosity, these groups were, little by little, becoming the attraction of Rio’s Carnival.  The draw was the pace, which was marked with the unexpected sound of the cabrochas and the popular themes of the lyrics.

Maintained for decades as a secondary element of fun at Rio’s Carnival, the samba schools acquired great prominence beginning in the 1950s, with the incorporation of the middle class into the parades.  This was the result of the rapprochement between the schools and the intellectual left. From there the samba schools climbed the ladder of success to become the highlight of the national event.

The Carnival of the street, blocks and strips

Two weeks before the carnival, the streets of Rio de Janeiro begin to be taken over by a large number of blocks and bands.  They bring with them tens of thousands of revellers and make the city a large popular dance floor, without strings and open to whoever wants to come.

The Carnival of balls and clubs

During the carnival, dances are performed in various clubs in the city, some directed more towards the upper class, others to the lower classes. The mayor of the city also has popular dances.  These are open to the public and held in certain traditional areas of the city, such as Cinelandia and in the suburban districts as Madureira. Also famous is the dance of the Gay Gala on Tuesday of Carnival, dedicated to the community GLS.

Testing the Samba Schools

Though starting “officially” on Fat Friday, the Rio street carnival actually starts in November when the samba schools of the city will perform the “technical test” in the Sambadrome. These are true parades where the corner, progress and pace are the key elements.  The events attract the people of the city and surrounding area, who fill the bleachers and twist and sing with their schools. The testing has become a popular party that increasingly captures the interest of tourists who want to attend and participate in a carnival.