The Judgement During the parades, each samba school is judged in ten different aspects called "quesitos" (requisites). There are two major groups among the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, the "Grupo Especial" (especial group) and the "Grupo de Acesso" (access group), which is divided into groups A, B, C, D and E. Each year the school from the especial group that has the lowest score descends to group A and the school from group A that has the highest score ascends to the especial group. This happens to all other groups too, so competition is strong. This way, each samba school has the chance to be among the greatest schools from the especial group one day. In addition to the requisites that are judged, punctuallity is also fundamental. A school may be punished for a late finish and may loose points at the final score. There is a group of four jury members to appraise each "quesito" (requisite). They place their results in an envelope, so they cannot be revealed. On the Ash Wednesday, the envelopes are opened at the Sambódromo and broadcasted live to Rio de Janeiro. Each samba school must have from six to eight floats, a group of people, normally men, called "comissão de frente" (front commission) that comes in the front opening the parade with a special choreography, a very special couple known as "mestre sala and porta-bandeira" (standard bearer and her escort, the master of ceremonies), the "puxador de samba" (the main singer of a samba school) and the support singers, the "bateria" (the percussion band that accompanies the "puxador de samba" during the parade) and a large number of people who buy the costumes to take part in the show and form the "alas" (the units of the school). © Mangueira Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue and the Mangueira Samba School - Canival 2000 These are the main requisites for each samba school to be on parade. Another important fact is that the samba schools must respect the school's colors. Each school has its own flag, that normally consist of two colors. Of course, they make use of different colors in the making of the costumes and floats, but the colors of each samba school are normally clearly seen along the avenue. Mangueira's colors are green and pink (as seen in this picture), Salgueiro's colors are red and white, Mocidade's colors are green and white, Beija-Flor's colors are blue and white and so on. In this picture you can see three "alas" from Mangueira samba school and a float. Each "ala" is formed by groups of people wearing the same costume. Below you can see the Salgueiro samba school and its red and white colors. © Portal Terra Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue and the Salgueiro Samba School - Canival 2003 © Liesa Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue and the Salgueiro Samba School - Canival 2000   © Portal Terra Viradouro's Standard Bearer - Canival 2003 The "porta-bandeira" (standard bearer) carries the school standard with pride and the crowds stand and cheer as she passes by. Her escort, the "mestre-sala" (master of ceremonies), accompanies her with an interesting choreography, performing the most elaborate steps around her. Together they make a very beautiful show.   © Globo.com Imperatriz Leopoldinense Samba School - Canival 2003 The floats tell the story of the theme and impress everyone with their special effects, lightning, sculptures and details. The floats must be less than 10 meters high and 8.5 meters wide. Each school must have from six to eight floats. In addition, there are accessories, including hand accessories, which count in the requisite. The floats are the requisite which mostly contributes with new itens every year incorporating new technologies, such as laser and many special effects.   Also important are the "baianas" section ("ala das baianas"), that is obligatory and each school must have at least a hundred of them. They have the attraction and affection of the public and without them, the history of the samba would not t be the same. Their costumes are not required to be in accordance with the theme nor do this section have a fixed position in the parade. © Liesa   The "baianas" are the name given to women who are born in Bahia (a state in northern Brazil). The typical baianas use to wear long white dresses and turbants (a tradition brought from their African descendents). The "baianas" on the avenue are not real "baianas" by birth, but women (mostly aged) from the communities who perform wearing heavy "baiana" outfits (up to 15 kg). They have to whirl on the avenue with their large round skirts while dancing. That makes a great effect on the avenue, especially when seen from above.   The percussion is the heart of the samba school. The person in charge of all the instruments is called the percussion conductor, or maestro ("mestre de bateria"). To reach this position he must know how to play all the instruments and know the technique of preparing the drums, have a good ear to note when something is out of tune and gesticulate commanding his 300 percussionists. © Liesa Canival 2003 During the parade, the "bateria" comes to a space set off to the side for the "bateria" to play in front of the jury (this space is located half-way between the start and the finish lines and is called "recuo da bateria"). There, the drummers and percussionists play before the judges, while the rest of the schools passes along the avenue. Everything must be precise when they enter the "recuo da bateria", so there will be no empty spaces between the "alas". If the juries see empty spaces while the percussion is entering or leaving the "recuo", the school loose points. Then, after all "alas" have passed, the bateria leaves this space and closes the parade, following the last "ala" of the school. © Liesa Percussionists from Mangueira's "bateria" - Canival 2000 On the left is an instrument called "pandeiro" and on the right the "cuíca".   © Liesa Percussionists from União da Ilha's "bateria" - Canival 2001 These instruments are called "tamborim".   © Portal Terra Luma de Oliveira, godmother of the Viradouro Samba School - March, 2 2003. In font of the percussion comes a woman, that can be either a black beauty from the community or some TV star, top model or other personality. These women are called "madrinhas de bateria" (godmothers) and they usually come in tiny costumes or topless. They dance the samba in front of the "bateria" during the whole parade.   The Front Comission (Comissão de Frente) is a the group of people who introduces the school. Many years ago, it consisted of traditional members of the school, such as its founders, whose function was to proudly introduce the school in song, dance and revelry. But today it is incorporated to the theme and presents remarkable costumes and sometimes amazing choreographies. They often represent part of the theme like a theater play. © Liesa Beija-Flor's Front Comission with people dressed like birds Canival 2002   © Mangueira Mangueira's Front Comission - Carnival 2000   © O Globo  Beija-Flor Front Comission - Canival 2003   Below you can see pictures of carnival 2003. On the left, Império Serrano samba school and its front comission. On the right, the Viradouro samba school and its front comission. Right behind the front comissions always comes the "carro abre-alas" (the float that "opens" the parade and carries the school's name or symbol. © O Globo  Império Serrano's Front Comision and the "carro abre-alas" - Canival 2003 © O Globo  Viradouro's Front Comision and the "carro abre-alas" - Canival 2003 Here you can see Portela's "carro abre-alas" and the eagle, which is the school's symbol. In front of the "carro abre-alas" is the front comission. © O Globo  Portela's Front Comision and the "carro abre-alas" - Canival 2003   Also judged during the parade are: The samba theme song (Samba-Enredo), which tells the story or comments on the theme. Directly influences other requisites. A samba which the public and the people who are taking part in the parade can sing with enthusiasm during the parade is half of the way to a great show, although it doesn't mean that the juries will give high notes for that school. Harmony (Harmonia) - not with the same meaning as in music. In this case, harmony is a pleasing combination of related things. In a samba school, the harmony is the perfect blend of its members' rhythm, song and dance. Evolution (Evolução) - this especially observes the matching of the different coreography and how uniform the parade is along the avenue. Theme (Enredo) - the central theme of the school and its development. The ideal is that the school has an original and creatively developed theme. Costumes (Fantasias) - assessed according to their beauty, luxury and suitability to the theme. Each school has a person in charge of creating the prototypes for the costumes. This person is called the "carnavalesco". People wearing the same costumes form an "ala" of the school. © Liesa An "ala" from Mangueira samba school - Canival 2001     * Back to the Carnival in Rio Menu *     This page was created on: January 20th 2002. Last updated on: February 10th 2005. 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