RIO DE JANEIRO-CARNIVAL/CHAMPIONS PARADE Rio’s champion Carnival schools close out year with one last spin down world-famous parade route

Record ID: 451023

  • Title: RIO DE JANEIRO-CARNIVAL/CHAMPIONS PARADE Rio’s champion Carnival schools close out year with one last spin down world-famous parade route
  • Date: 22nd February 2015
  • Summary: PERFORMER IN COSTUME INCLUDING ANIMAL PARADING VARIOUS OF THE PROCESSION OF THE PORTELA SAMBA SCHOOL SAMBA DANCERS PARADING IN FLAMBOYANT, FEATHERED COSTUMES
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAQ7Z9ISH3CZWAPS9ILAB16VX6
  • Story Text: Carnival 2015 in Rio de Janeiro just won't call it quits as the top six samba schools in the city took to the Sambadrome parade route for one last high-spirited spin to close out the year during the Champions Parade on Saturday (February 21) night.
    Beija-Flor was tapped to take centre stage last as this year's Carnival champion samba school after winning the top prize on Wednesday (February 18). The victory marks the 13th such win for the school.
    The top six schools were given the honours of taking a more relaxed run-through the 700 metre- (765 yard-) Marques do Sapucai stadium and show off their stuff, but without the pressure of the high-stakes competition.
    The samba schools, as the troupes are known, paraded their floats, samba and drum lines and flamboyant costumes just one last time before they will take a break and regroup before next year's competition.
    "It's really great. It's an honour. And we're here to celebrate happiness and play at the Sapucai. Today is just for fun without any responsibilities," said a member of the Imperatriz samba school, Paolo Resende.
    But even though they weren't being judged, the performers and samba dancers still wanted to put on one of the best shows on Earth for the packed audience.
    "The show is the same (as the performance during the competition.) That's because the people that are here want to see the same show. So the community is giving it its all with all the races, including all tribes, so it will certainly be a great show with a lot of bite," another Imperatriz performer, Ueslei Simpatia, told Reuters while participating.
    As the 6th place finishers, Imperatriz were first out of the gate followed by Portela in 5th place and Unidos da Tijuca in 4th. The top three schools, Grande Rio, Salgueiro and champions Beija-Flor de Nilopolis followed them in order.
    And the passion and joy remained on the faces of the dancers as they made their way through the parade route waving to fans and dancing to the beat of the samba drums.
    The schools performed their world-famous parades either on Sunday (February 15) or Monday (February 16) in front of thousands of fans and tourists. In the end, Beija-Flor de Nilopolis just barely edged out Salgueiro by just four-tenths of a point, 269.9 to the second place school's 269.5.
    Champion school Beija-Flor was founded in 1948 and is based in the working class suburb of Nilopolis just north of Rio.
    The parade competition in Rio is the most competitive in the country and is a mainstay of Carnival celebrations here.
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