Sambadrome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sambadrome (Sambódromo in Portuguese, full name Sambódromo da Marquês de Sapucaí) is a purpose-built parade area in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where samba schools parade competitively each year during Carnival. The parades attract many thousands of Brazilians and foreign tourists each year.
[edit] The venue
The Sambadrome was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built in 1984. It consists of 700 m stretch of the Marquês de Sapucaí street converted into a permanent parade ground with bleachers built on either side for spectators. Its capacity is 65,000. As part of the complex, in the end of the street, there's the Praça da Apoteose (Apotheosis Square), where the samba schools finish their parade.
The Praça da Apoteose is occasionally used as a venue for international music concerts, in the non-carnival season. Among the notable artists who performed there were The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Oasis, Avril Lavigne, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Carlos Santana.
In December, the samba schools begin holding technical rehearsals there, leading up to Carnival itself.
[edit] The Carnival parade events
The official Carnival parades take place just before the start of Lent. They are held for four consecutive nights, during which schools parade one after another from 8pm until the morning. Grupo de Acesso A samba schools are hosted on Saturday, Grupo Especial on Sunday and Monday and Grupo de Acesso B on Tuesday. The Grupo Especial nights are by far the biggest attractions. The parades are televised nationally and are watched by large audiences.
Each samba school has a preset amount of time (80 minutes) to parade from one end of the Sambadrome to the other with all its thousands of dancers, its drum section (bateria), and a number of floats. Each school has its own unique qualities according to its own traditions. Schools are graded by a jury, and the competition is ferocious. On Ash Wednesday (quarta-feira de cinzas), grades are gathered and one school is declared the winner. A Desfile de Campeões (Parade of Champions) is held the following Saturday featuring the five winning samba schools in the Grupo Especial category.
In 2006, ticket prices for normal bleacher seats in the Sambadrome on Grupo Especial nights ranged between R$150 and R$500 (US$60 to US$220), with VIP camarote seating (which includes breakfast) and scalped tickets costing much more. The Parade of Champions was half price, and the Grupo de Acesso A was between R$10 and R$30 (US$5 and $13).[citation needed]
Inflated prices to watch star samba schools exclude many Brazilians from attending. As a reaction to high levels of commercialization, Rio de Janeiro has experienced a resurgence in free block parties (Street Bands and Groups: Blocos) that take place in suburbs all over the city.
It is possible for a person who is not a member of any samba school to buy a costume and arrange for a spot as a dancer in one of the parade groups.
