THE «VAI-VAI» SAMBA SCHOOL
(Sao Paulo, Brazil)
| President | Solon Tadeu Pereira |
| Artistic Director | Glicerio Gomes |
It is well known that the people of Brazil have two passions: football and carnival. The country starts functioning again only once the carnival is over: it lasts a week, but they prepare for it for a long time. Thus VAI-VAI, a leading samba school, starts rehearsals in August and goes on rehearsing right up to the start of the carnival, in February. Once or twice a week, for five months, 4000 people gather together at the school to rehearse for the carnival procession!
In its home city of Sao Paulo, with a population of many millions, VAI- VAI is the best of the many samba schools: it has won the title of champion 11 times, and 9 times got second place. A public opinion poll in Sao Paulo showed that the school has 3 million 600 thousand fans. The school tries to preserve the carnival as part of Brazil’s unique folk culture, they are against it being transformed into a branch of the tourist industry as, in the opinion of the leaders of the VAI-VAI school, has already happened in Rio de Janeiro. And for this reason, they seek for – and find – ways of making sure that today the people themselves take part in this festival which once upon a time they themselves created.
It is not so easy to participate in the carnival procession. Apart from being able to sing and dance, one also has to have a costume which not everyone has the means to acquire. For instance, a pair of costumes for the flag bearers (the woman carries the flag and the man pays homage to it) costs 15 000 dollars. Of course, not all the costumes are this expensive, but even so, they cost something. And so, the school organizes a wide-flung charity campaign which makes it possible for ordinary people to participate fully in the carnival.
Annually in Brazil a new theme, binding on all participants is chosen for the carnival – one of them was dedicated to Nostradamus, another one – to Brazil 200th anniversary.
During the Theatre Olympiad 120 Brazilian dancers, musicians and singers paraded in carnival procession along Tverskaya Street.