Samba school brings syncretism to Rio's Carnival

The samba school Portela, the most award-winning of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, aims to put an end to a fast of titles in 26 years with an innovative samba inspired by syncretism and the festivals in the State of Bahia, which has placed it among the Favorites of this year.

Portela parade the night of February 19 in the Marquis de Sapucaí Sambadrome with the theme "and or povo na rua singing." "É feito uma reza, ritual um..." ("And the people on the street singing.") ("Made a prayer, a ritual..."), which aims to show the joy and spontaneity of the people of Bahia (northeast), expressed in their festivals.

Bay, whose capital is Salvador, first capital of Brazil, is the most populous black country and practitioners of religions Afro-Brazilian.

According to the Carnivalesque (artistic director) of Portela, Paulo Menezes, "Bay has the gift of love" because "land in which are mixed into a single white and" u000a"black, the sacred and the profane, the afro and the Baroque".

Samba composed for this year speaks of the Lord of Bonfim but also of Yemanyá, the goddess of the waters, the orixás, the batucada and capoeira, symbols of Bahia.

"The theme is inspired by the Bay, I wanted to include the universe gather in the universe of the Carnival", he told Efe Menezes, during a visit to the Cidade da Samba, in the Centre of Rio de Janeiro, where schools prepare the floats and costumes of Carnival.

Menezes said that visited Salvador to soak up the culture of that region and that many of the figures prepared for the parade are replicas of works by artists bahianos.

Founded in 1923 in the popular neighborhood of Madureira, Portela does not win the carioca Carnival since 1984, year in which was imposed with the theme "Tales da areia" ("Tales from the sand").

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