Samba Schools and Carnival

Samba first became associated with carnival (carnaval) in Rio de Janeiro around 1900, when blacks, mulattoes, and unskilled white laborers danced down the streets to the rhythm of percussive instruments and singing in a call and response fashion to the leader’s improvised melodies.  This style became known as samba baiana or samba carnavalesca.  In 1928, a group of samba musicians (sambistas) belonging to the Deixa Falar rehearsed in a field in front of a teacher-training college, and they decided to call their own association a samba school.  Other carnival associations adopted the term, and thus many samba schools were formed in the Rio neighborhood. In the samba schools (escolas de samba) of Rio, rehearsals become public events, with large numbers of tourists participating in the preparations for the carnival.  Preparations for the carnival can last for months. The final, public performances vary widely.  Processional forms are common, as in parades during carnival in Rio, or social dances, where large numbers of people gather in a confined space to eat, drink, and dance.

During the 1930's, samba schools began presenting themes (enredos) in their parades, and developed into samba-enredos, samba with a narrative text.  Various uniformed dancers (alas) became clearly demarcated, each representing part of the story of the samba-enredo.  Floats carrying destaques (people in special outfits placed on the floats) were added, relating to the theme.  In 1934, carnival in Rio was made official, and only legally registered schools could receive public funds to help cover the costs of their exhibitions.  By 1937, these groups had to develop themes that would stimulate nationalist feelings among the participants by glorifying patriotic symbols and national heroes.  In the mid-1960's, literary figures and Brazilian folklore became dominant themes.  In the 1980's, the country faced redomcratization, many samba schools began to use the parades as a venue for addressing national issues, such as the presidential elections, inflation, poverty, ecological devastation, discrimination, and other social and economic problems.