Schooled in Samba

We met in New Orleans in 1994 at a party. It was during the lead up to Mardi Gras and led to an actual date and another party and another date and . . . 24+ years later we're still at it. We've landed here in Rio a few weeks before their big event and there's plenty of "Carnaval" anticipation around. Through a local friend we hadn't seen in years, we were lucky enough to experience the energy of a "friends and family" rehearsal night of one of the Samba Schools, the main attractions of Rio's and Sao Paolo's Carnaval.

Unidos da Tijuca is a traditional school founded in 1931 and has won the coveted Champion spot seven times as recently as 2014. There's been internal politics, funding changes, creative differences and every other outcome of big social clubs. I had no idea this was a competition, but it is serious and supported by government funding and years worth of work not just for those directly involved, but the particular neighbourhood they represent.

Hips, hips and more hips. I've seen samba dancers before, but this is on steroids. And like any true pro, they played to the back row as big as they could, even in a rehearsal.