basics

Every school has its mestre-sala (the man) and porta-bandeira (the woman), who represent the school. Here you see the couple, representing Mangueira, wearing the school's colours. They are one of the categories to be rated individually by the judges.
So better smile and DON'T EVER get entangled with the precious flag!



Another important part of any samba school is the "bateria" (the drummers) which must be made up of at least 200 integrants (to ensure the sound?) and one "rainha da bateria" (drummer queen), who is kind of leading the whole section. Of course they are rated as well. Here... you see the rainha and the bateria of Viradouro.


OK, another category: the harmony of the whole parade. Here you see again Mangueira, with a very good performance ;-) at least they have no holes between the sections.