Rio’s first all-female samba school prepares defiant parade

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — As Carnival approaches in Rio de Janeiro, members of a samba school perfect a minutely- tuned performance with dancers twirling in blue, red and white skirts and 40 drummers pounding the rhythm with gusto.

There isn’t a single man in sight. This samba school, in Rio’s Madureira neighborhood, is the city’s first to be run by and for women.

The community- tied music and dance clubs have always included women, most commonly as seamstresses and dancers. They’ve played the schools’ smaller instruments and Carnival queens lead processions in elaborate, sequined outfits. But rarely do women call the shots on finances, themes or even costumes.

“The big samba schools are coordinated by men, which means women are used to receiving orders,” Barbara Rigaud, a 54- year- old cultural producer and hairdresser who is the head of the new Turma da Paz de Madureira samba school, or Group of Peace from Madureira, known by the initials TPM.

During a recent rehearsal, the musicians played under a huge red and orange marquee, offering some protection from the sweltering sun, while older women and a young girl sat in chairs lined against the wall.

“Here, a woman can express her desires, her ideas, her opinions, which increases self- esteem,” said Rigaud, a Black woman who wears beaded earrings and a wide smile. “It is empowering.”

TPM started in 2011 as a bloco, the name for musical groups that flood streets with parties during the Carnival season. Rigaud decided she wanted to take the women- only group further and compete in the city’s samba leagues. She successfully sought approval from city councilors and the school was inaugurated last September.

The school has 320 members, and rehearses in the the lower middle-class neighborhood of Madureira in Rio’s north zone, along with some of the city’s most prestigious samba schools, including Portela and Império Serrano.

Among the group’s dozens of drummers is Gisele Rosires, 47. She is proud of her big, bulky surdo drum, but the blowback is strong.