Rio de Janeiro (EFE) from Rio de Janeiro.
The Paraíso do Tuiuti samba company lit up the Rio sambadrome after a fireworks show that ended up overshadowed by the thunderous noise of the battery (orchestra), made up of more than a hundred musicians and dominated by a percussion battalion.
Its more than 3,000 members dressed in costumes with themes alluding to the story told, filled the public with joy as they paraded along the more than 700 meters of the track accompanying gigantic floats dressed in color and with articulated scenery that dazzled the public.
Statuesque ‘garotas’, wasting skill and energy with their dances, were applauded by the spectators, who this year were almost 100,000 every day, leaving the sambadrome to burst.
The history
The island of Marajó, located in the north of the country, has the largest herd of buffaloes in all of Brazil. The animal is present in its economy, its culture, its cuisine and even serves as a means of transportation for the Police.
That is why the Paraíso Tuiuti school, six times champion of the parades of the Special Group, the highest category of all samba companies, decided to tell how the buffalo ended up on that island, located in the state of Pará and whose size is almost equal to that of Switzerland.
According to the story, a ship that two centuries ago left India loaded with buffalo and spices for French Guiana crashed into a rock during a storm and was wrecked before reaching its destination.
The entire crew died and only the buffalo that ended up on the island of Marajó survived.
The Special Group at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival
In addition to Paraíso de Tuiuti, five more schools will pass through the catwalk of the sambadrome between Monday night and Tuesday morning telling stories about culture and the black race in Brazil.
The parade of the twelve samba “schools” of the so-called Special Group, a kind of first category among the close to 100 that will be presented this year, is the main attraction of the carioca carnival.
In the two days of parades of the Special Group, about 35,000 sambistas, 1,200 percussionists and about 70 allegorical floats pass through the Sambódromo for an audience of about 200,000 people, including those attending the special spaces mounted in the stands (cabins).
