the sombódromo

Last week I (along with about 70,000 other people) went to an official samba school practice/dress rehearsal at the Sombódromo (the runway where the schools compete to be considered the best samba school in Rio). There are many samba schools in Rio and only 24 get to compete during Carnaval. Of the schools that compete, they are divided into two categories: A and B. Each year one school moves up from B to A and one moves down. When a school moves down, it is a disgrace to their school and their reputation takes a hit. Therefore, competition is fierce. As they compete, judges critique everything from their rhythm, to their smiles.

When I attended, the Mangueira samba school (one of the largest in Rio) was practicing on the runway. The coolest. Thing. Ever. Over 4,000 samba school members participated in the parade. They were divided into different groups. Some wore colorful costumes such as huge dresses or simply jeweled lingerie and others simply danced in their samba school official shirts. There were dancers on top of big platforms dancing their hearts out. The show lasted 80 minutes, which is the amount of time allocated for each school to flaunt their samba skills for the judges. The official Mangueira song was played during the entire show and everyone in the audience danced and sang along in the crowded bleachers, hardly aware that they were not on the runway themselves!