On the streets, you can see the peaks of Brazil’s multifaceted dance culture.
The streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city, were filled with top dancers at the end of the week.
One of the highlights of the festival is the dance school competition winners’ parade. 12 elite schools participated in the final show. The competition itself was organized a week ago in the Sambadrome center, which attracts 75,000 spectators. This year’s winner was the Viradouro school. In a country of 203 million inhabitants, dancing is one of the most popular hobbies and an important part of the music culture.
The history of slavery is the theme of several performances
The theme of the elementary school performance was the power of black women. The school’s artistic director Tarcisio Zanon says that the glittering feathers depict an African goddess worshiped in Benin.
The history of the Afro-Brazilian population and indigenous peoples was repeated in the performances of many samba schools. Brazil was the last country in North and South America to abolish slavery in 1888. Samba has its origins in the music of the descendants of former slaves.
Parade songs often become hits in Brazil. Around 70,000 people follow the dance carnival every year.
Reuters