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ESTARREJA’S CARNIVAL – PART I: THE
REHEARSAL
The Rio de Janei o Ca ni al, popula ized wo ldwide by he samba schools, ac s as a g ea symbol o B azilian cul u e, as
well as se ing as a ine example o cul u al hyb idi y, as his o ians Simas & Faba o (2015, p. 12) poin ou abou i s
o igins:
Few places would be mo e ideal o he eme gence o [samba] schools han he ci y o
São Sebas ião do Rio de Janei o
, he Oxossi hun e o ou
macumbas
. The geog aphy ha
mixes hills and asphal , he ensions be ween a black ci y – a po o en y o housands
o sla es om A ica and a poin o a ac ion o housands o eedmen who a i ed in
Rio in he yea s immedia ely a e he aboli ion o sla e y in 1888 – and a ci y ha ied o
be Eu opean ( he “T opical Pa is” o he u ban e o ms led by Mayo Pe ei a Passos a he
beginning o he 20 h cen u y) made i possible o cul u al inpu s o a ious kinds o
ci cula e and p oduce a peculia cul u al b o h. The e’s e e y hing in he Ca ioca ecipe
E en hough I’m no a big an o his popula es i al, I was in i ed by my colleague Leona do, also a PhD s uden in
Cul u al S udies, o esea ch he samba schools o Es a eja, he e in Po ugal, because he ansla ion o a es i i y – so
closely linked o ou B azilian na ional cul u e – on o Po uguese soil, le us a ad cu ious o y and unde s and wha
his mel ing po o cul u al hyb idi y migh be. The e o e, unde he concep o cul u al hyb idi y (Canclini, 1990;
Bhabha, 1998), i.e. a se ies o socio-cul u al p ocesses in which ce ain s uc u es and p ac ices – unique and dis inc –
combine in o new hyb id s uc u es, p ac ices and objec s, we hen se ou sel es owa ds he challenge o disco e ing
he Es a eja samba school pe o mances.
I was Feb ua y 8 h and we s a ed ou isi in O a , a e Leo and I had wa ched p e ious yea s’ pa ades on YouTube
and no iced ha O a ’s samba school pa ades seemed be e p oduced han Es a eja’s, in he sense o ha ing mo e
people pa icipa ing as audience and pa ade membe s. As O a was on he way o Es a eja, he e was enough ime o
a b ie isi .
A i ing in O a , we ound ha he samba schools and ca ni al g oups we e cen alized in a single space, which had
a ound 24 sheds, dis ibu ed be ween 4 samba schools and 20 ca ni al g oups. Each shed concen a ed i ems om
each school’s pa ade, wi h he
samba-en edo
[samba-plo ] a ached o he walls, and i was clea ha he e was a
gende di ision in he asks o be ca ied ou , i.e. he men we e concen a ed on he mo e “o ganiza ional” asks
(allego ies and music) while he women we e in cha ge o he mo e “pe o ma i e” asks (such as he pa ade and i s
empo), al hough i was possible o spo a ew people o each gende mo ing be ween asks – in a 90/10 a io.
Figu es 1 e 2. O a ’s “Ca ni al Village”
We ook a b ie walk a ound he space and no iced ha he a mosphe e esembled a club, whe e he amilies linked o
each g oup/school ga he ed casually, always iden i iable by he colo s o hei samba associa ion. I was also possible
o see ha he daugh e s we e ex emely chee ul and always jumping o dancing, while he sons usually ollowed hei
a he s in a shy and mu ed manne – he a he s, in his case, ga he ed a he back o each shed, whe e he e was a
kind o small ba whe e hey enjoyed glasses o Supe Bock.
On ha pa icula day, he e was o be a pa ade h ough he ci y and, despi e ou expec a ion o a space ull o music,
only he
Cha anguinha
g oup was es ing hei sound ca , which almos dea ened me. We ook he oppo uni y o
b ie ly alk o a ew pa icipan s om some o he samba g oups, disco e ing an unexpec ed pa e n: he e we e ha dly
any B azilians in he g oups, usually no mo e han wo pe g oup.
Ou ime in O a was qui e sho , as we had a mee ing scheduled wi h a ep esen a i e o he
T epa de Es a eja
Samba
School. When we a i ed in Es a eja, we no iced ha , unlike O a , which had a space ese ed o all he associa ions,
each associa ion had i s own space. In his case, bo h he
T epa de Es a eja
samba school and he
Vai Quem Que
school we e loca ed nea o each o he , in a e y u al a ea and nex o he ain line, abou h ee minu es’ walk om
each o he .
We ied o isi
T epa de Es a eja
, bu as i was a day wi h a big pa y in he e ening, we we e unable o con ac any
ep esen a i es, al hough we did manage o isi he school b ie ly. The school was emp y, excep o some wo ke s
o ganizing he pa y ha would ake place la e . A i s , I ound i cu ious ha he school had he same colo s as
Es ação P imei a de Manguei a
, a adi ional samba school in Rio de Janei o and he home o samba singe Ca ola. In a
con e sa ion wi h my colleague Leona do, he old me ha , in p e ious esea ch, he had no iced ha almos all he
samba schools in Po ugal allude o some o he adi ional samba schools in Rio’s ca ni al.
We ook a b ie walk h ough he ci y cen e , which was e y emp y. As we passed in on o he Ci y Council, we
no iced ha all he g oups ha make up Es a eja’s Ca ni al had hei emblems p ominen ly displayed. I e en ound i
e y in e es ing ha he e we e wo ca ni al g oups dedica ed o women.
Figu e 3. Es a eja’s Ci y Council
In he ci y cen e , he e was a space dedica ed o he Ca ni al, whe e he di e en samba schools and g oups held
hei ehea sals. This same space was whe e he ac ual Ca ni al pa ade (o p ocession) ook place. In his case, we
managed o ge he e igh a he s a o he
Vai Quem Que
ehea sal and, igh om he s a , I was su p ised ha he
c owd was almos en i ely Po uguese. This demog aphic was also e iden in he school i sel . Jus as in he ideos we
wa ched be o e ou isi , i was possible o see ha he pa ade was composed almos exclusi ely o women
passis as
[dance s], while he men we e loca ed almos exclusi ely in he school’s d ums, excep o a ew male igu es who
complemen ed some scenog aphic elemen s, such as spaces dedica ed o allego ical ca s o he igu e o he
mes e-
sala
accompanying he
po a-bandei a
.
Figu es 4 e 5. Es a eja’s Ca ni al Space
E en hough i was eezing cold, all he passis as we e d essed in sho s and high heels, wi h a la ge p esence o
eenage and young adul women, as well as small child en’s wa ds ull o young gi ls. While hey we e wai ing o hei
wing o en e he a enue, I no iced some o hese child en playing wi h s icks, as i hey we e iny wi ches’ magic
wands.
Du ing he ehea sal, he i s shock: he en i e samba-en edo is sung in B azilian Po uguese, despi e he ac ha –
no o iously – he school has e y ew membe s who can be iden i ied as B azilian, namely 1 couple o black people on
he d ums. A he end o he ehea sal, which e en manages o b ie ly allude o a uni e se o B azil, despi e he ac
ha he e a e almos no B azilians in he school o in he audience, e e yone p esen is Po uguese again, i.e. you no
longe hea B azilian Po uguese and you hea Po uguese om Po ugal.
Leo and I ied o alk o a guy who we no iced was pa o he o ganizing eam and we inally ound ou : he school has
only one B azilian ( he black d umme ), which was con a y o ou ini ial expec a ions. A e a b ie con e sa ion in
which we in oduced ou sel es and asked a ew ques ions, we we e in i ed o isi he school’s headqua e s.
When we a i ed, we managed o es ablish an ini ial ela ionship. As he con e sa ion wen on, we no iced ha he
o ganize s’ domes ic ela ionships showed a high deg ee o in ol emen wi h he Es a eja ca ni al scene. In his
pa icula case,
Vai Quem Que
‘s
mad inha de ba e ia
[“d um’s godmo he ”, who leads he d ums] is he wi e o he
p esiden o he school i sel ; on ano he on ,
Vai Quem Que
‘s ma ke ing manage is ma ied o he p esiden o he
i al school,
T epa de Es a eja
.
The o ganize s exci edly sha ed wi h us ha hey had isi ed B azil o he i s ime in No embe 2024, ge ing o know
some o he samba schools in Rio de Janei o in mo e dep h. Leo, who wo ked o yea s as a
ca na alesco
[ca ni al
designe ] in Rio de Janei o, ini ia ed a bonding by asking ques ions abou he o ganiza ion o samba schools and
wan ing o know who we e he people ha he g oup had me on hei isi o Rio. I, on he o he hand, ied o ge o
know a li le mo e abou he people who we e he e wi h us, disco e ing ha he ice-p esiden , And é, was bo n in
1987 and in he hea o Vai Quem Que , because he s udio we we e in had been his pa en s’ home a he ime o his
bi h.
Figu es 6 o 8.
Vai Quem Que
‘s A elie
Figu e 9. “Once we plan oge he , we ha es mo e han ic o ies!”
We ied o unde s and a li le be e why so ew B azilians expe ience he Es a eja Ca ni al – ei he in he samba
schools o in he audience a he ehea sals, o which hey sha ed wi h us ha “B azilians he e don’ wan samba
schools and he wo k ha goes in o i . They may e en open samba and pagode g oups, bu hey don’ open schools”.
We also asked whe he he e was any social and/o conse a i e aboo abou women wea ing cos umes ha migh
end owa ds sexualiza ion, o which we we e summa ily answe ed wi h “no, om he e o he Sou h o Po ugal he e
is no such hing as ha kind o conse a ism”. In esponse o he small numbe o men pa ading, ano he succinc
answe : “ ha ’s ue, because we ha e no in e es ”. Bu why is he e no in e es in men pa ading? I’m s ill ying o
unde s and…
Righ nex doo , he playlis in he main oom played e e y hing om B azilian unk o ypical Po uguese music. In
o de o be e unde s and he ela ionship hey had wi h B azilian cul u e, gi en ha samba schools a e a ypically
B azilian cul u al exp ession, we asked a ew ques ions aimed a unde s anding whe he he e was any kind o di ec
cul u al exchange be ween B azil and Po ugal a he school. The g oup hen old us ha he school’s name i sel came
om a
Tu ma da Mônica
[Monica’s Gang] comic book and ha , a he heigh o he popula iza ion o he Rio Ca ni al
he e in Po ugal (mid-1980s and 1990s), in addi ion o wha was being b oadcas on Po uguese TV, hey ob ained
casse e and VHS apes o he Rio de Janei o pa ades om iends and ela i es isi ing B azil. Howe e , excep o a
b ie , mo e “p o essional” con ac wi h B azilian ca ni al designe s, in which hey con ac hem and in i e hem o pass
on knowledge o he school in he o m o wo kshops, he e is no b oade cul u al dialog, excep o he ecen isi
hey made o Rio de Janei o.
Leo hen asks hem di ec ly how hey see Es a eja’s Ca ni al and i s ela ionship wi h Rio de Janei o’s Ca ni al. We a e
also old di ec ly ha he e is a ascina ion wi h Rio’s Ca ni al and, he e o e, hey wan o “abso b” Rio’s Ca ni al in o
Es a eja. Howe e , his ague answe does no explain wha he in en ion is wi h his kind “emula ion”.
Finally, wha is mos e iden is ha he social ies and ela ionships ha a e c ea ed om he samba school, whe he
due o he le el o in ol emen o he ha d wo k and c a smanship ha is p esen he e, c ea e a g ea sense o
belonging o he membe s o he school, as Ma esoli (1986/1998) would sugges in his s udies on pos -mode n
ibalism. This is made clea in he wo ds o And é, ice-p esiden and
mes e de ba e ia
[“d ums’ chie ”]: “I can’ lea e
he school o a momen , ha ’s why I don’ go o B azil o see he Rio Ca ni al in pe son. I can’ !”. E en so, a his i s
momen , I was e y con used by he ac ha a popula es i al so in insic o B azilian na ional cul u e is emula ed as a
p oduc , o he poin o imi a ing he accen and musicali y o B azilian Po uguese, bu wi hou es ablishing a
ela ionship o allusion o he cul u e hey seek o emula e, o a he “abso b”.
Tex and images:
Lucas No ais
(CECS/Uni e si y o Minho)
Published in May 30, 2025
This mic o-essay is he i s pa o a duology en i led “
Es a eja’s Ca ni al: A Thi d Space c ea ed by he Samba
Schools
“
.
The second pa can be ead
he e
.
Re e ences
Bhabha, H. K. (1998).
O local da cul u a
(P. A. Nascimen o, T ad.). Belo Ho izon e: Edi o a UFMG.
Canclini, N. G. (1990).
Cul u as híb idas: Es a egias pa a en a y sali de la mode nidad
. México: G ijalbo.
Ma esoli, M. (1986/1998).
O Tempo das T ibos. O declínio do indi idualismo nas sociedades de massa.
Rio de Janei o:
Fo ense Uni e si á ia.
Simas, L. A., & Faba o, F. (2015).
Pa a udo começa na quin a- ei a: O en edo dos en edos
. Módulo Edi o ial.
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