First All-female Samba School to Compete in Brazil’s Carnival

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Carnival¹ is back.

The Carnival is a week-long celebration marking the beginning of the Easter season in the Catholic church. Brazil's federal government expects 46 million people to join the festivities that officially begin Friday and run through Feb. 22.

It features many parades filled with music and samba dancing. Among them is a group from Turma da Paz de Madureira, or TPM, samba school.

What makes TPM special is that it is the city's first all-female samba school.

In Brazil, it is rare for women to be leaders of samba groups.

"The big samba schools are coordinated³ by men, which means women are used to receiving orders," said Barbara Rigaud. She is the 54-year-old leader of the new TPM samba school.

"Here, a woman can express her desires, her ideas, her opinions . . . it is empowering, " Rigaud added.

TPM started in 2011 as a bloco, the name for musical groups that play in the streets during the Carnival season. Rigaud decided⁴ she wanted to take the women-only group further and compete in the city's samba leagues. She won approval from city officials and the school was opened last September. It now has 320 members.

However, the group is still a target of insults from some men.

Gisele Rosires is one of several TPM drummers. "Men look me up and down, they think I'm not capable," she said. She remembered her first performance with the school a year and a half ago in Madureira's park. A man took the instrument from her and said, "You're a woman, get out."

In Brazil, women make up the majority of the population, but they hold few positions of leadership in government and business. Women won only 18 percent of Lower House seats in the National Congress and an even smaller percentage in the Senate.

Meanwhile, sexual attack and harassment⁵ continue to happen at Carnival's street parties. However, over the last ten years, women have pushed back and spread the message "No means No!"

For their first parade, on Feb. 19, TPM will honor Iansa, a female warrior⁶ of Candomblé. But parade rules require two men to lead the parade. Rigaud noted⁷ that "It has to be a man for now, until it changes, until this machismo ends."

TPM will compete in Rio's lowest-level samba league. If the women perform well enough, they can climb to a higher level for next year's parade. Already, Rigaud wants to reach the Sambodrome, where only the top schools compete.

"We're not here to play around," Rigaud said. "We're here to fight, to win."

Words in This Story

festivities - n. enjoyable activities at the time of a holiday or special occasion

coordinate² - v. to make arrangements so people or groups can work together

league - n. groups or teams that compete against each other

drummer - n. person who plays the drum, a musical instrument

harassment - n. the action of annoying or bothering repeatedly

machismo - n. strong and aggressive male pride

1 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

2 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。