Latin America's biggest and most spectacular carnival held its first night of parades on Sunday night. Seven of Rio de Janeiro's elite samba schools danced through the purpose-built stadium, all hoping to be named 2019 carnival champions. Another seven will compete tonight.
Like New Orleans's Mardi Gras, Rio's carnival marks the beginning of Lent, a celebration before the 40 days of fasting. But Rio de Janeiro's carnival is much bigger than Mardi Gras. It is more like Brazil's version of the Super Bowl—virtually the whole country comes to a standstill to watch the parades on TV.
The parades may seem to be one endless party, but competition between the samba schools is fierce. Parades are judged on areas such as design, choreography, costumes and—the most important one—theme. The perfect theme should be glitzy and fun, yet also memorable and meaningful. Schools often choose social issues or major historical events that lend themselves to epic staging. Some of the themes at last night's contest included the echanting universe of children's stories, man's relationship with money, and the story of bread.
As soon as this year's parade ends, work begins on the next one. Entire armies of carpenters, seamstresses, dancers and musicians work around the clock, building the elaborate floats and sewing the thousands of sequins onto the hundreds of eye-popping costumes.
The seven schools that competed last night were: Império Serrano, Viradouro, Rio Grande, Salgueiro, Beija-Flor, Imperatriz Leopoldinense and Unidos da Tijuca. Newsweek presents photos of each samba school's cavalcade of floats with hundreds of drummers, dancers and showgirls.
Império Serrano
Viradouro
Rio Grande
Salgueiro
Beija-Flor
Imperatriz Leopoldinense
Unidos da Tijuca
Uncommon Knowledge
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