Arts & Entertainment

Story about Brazil buffaloes marks second day at Rio sambadrome

Rio de Janeiro, Feb 20 (EFE).- A show of brightness and color that told the story of the arrival of buffaloes on an island at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil marked the Monday opening of the second and last day of parades showcasing the best samba schools at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival.

The Paraiso do Tuiuti samba company lit up the Rio sambadrome after a fireworks show overshadowed by the thunderous noise of the orchestra, made up of more than 100 musicians and dominated by a battalion of percussionists.

More than 3,000 members dressed in costumes with themes alluding to the stories told, filled the public with joy as they paraded the more than 700 meters avenue accompanying gigantic floats dressed in color and with articulated scenery that dazzled the public.

Statuesque “garotas,” skillful and energetic with their dances, were applauded by spectators, who this year totaled almost 100,000 a day.

Marajo island, in northern Brazil, has the country’s largest herd of buffaloes. 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 Paraiso 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 the island, located in the state of Para 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 buffaloes that ended up on the island of Marajo survived.

In addition to Paraiso de Tuiuti, five more schools passed 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 12 samba “schools” of the so-called Special Group, a kind of first category among the nearly 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 Sambodromo for an audience of about 200,000 people, including those attending the special spaces mounted in the stands. EFE

mat/lds

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