"Samba schools", which started off first in Rio de Janeiro in 1928, have evolved around the centerpiece event of the Rio Carnaval. The schools parade down a lane lined with grandstands, thousands of members per school dressed in coordinated costumes, dancing a rehearsed samba routine to original music. Each school's presentation has a central theme, such as a historical event, a famous person or a native Brazilian legend. The samba song must be developed around the theme, and the parade organised by each school must detail the theme through costumes, paintings or papier-mache sculpture. Each samba school rehearses all year round for this event and all its members take part in the rehearsals, whether experts or not. It is a place where people who always wanted to write a song, play a percussion instrument or choreograph a dance will have their opportunity. The samba parade is the work of neighbourhood communities working together. Much more than musical groups, they are in fact, neighborhood associations that cater for a variety of community needs (such as educational and health care resources) in a country with grinding poverty and poor social safety net.

First is the front line (the comissão de frente), which consists of around ten people who have to introduce the samba school's theme. Other than that, there is no rule concerning the order of the different elements of a samba school. Its main components are: The master of ceremonies and flag bearer: a couple, sometimes dressed in royal eighteenth or nineteenth-century attire, who dance in a graceful, composed manner. The flag bearer displays the flag of the samba school. The rich costumes that the couple wear are a mark of the intense dialogues between cultures provided by the Carnival in Rio. The Baianas (ala de baianas), which may include over one hundred older Afro-Brazilian women stereotypically dressed to represent the women from Bahia who sold goods in the streets of Rio during the 19th century. The drum section (bateria) which consists of a few hundred people playing in rows. Instruments include a variety of drums, tambourines, and rattles.

This gold & white design represents the traditions, music and rich culture of the people of Brasil giving an example of unity and social movement. Our Love to one of the most influential cultures in the world. Obrigado Brasil....

Price:$31.00