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An economy built on vibrant communities

Samba schools were founded in the slums of Rio – areas that have always struggled – but through an industry driven by vibrancy they boost local community economies and promote community pride all year long.

In the slums of Rio de Janeiro economic struggle is constant. Ever since the 40's when they first started taking form in the hills people dealt with unemployment, drug traffic, illegal gambling and other struggles. But, besides all that it’s in the slums that a lot of Rio’s fame for Carnaval begun. Most famous “sambistas” – samba composers/performers were from the communities and in these communities the culture of Carnaval was reinvented. Today in Rio the samba schools (that’s what we call them) that perform in Carnaval are community businesses that employ people all year making costumes for sale, building the allegories, teaching how to play instruments and organizing “Rehearsals” (to which they charge a fee) that became some of the coolest places to go in Rio to party. They transformed a 5 day event in an industry that lasts all year. All of these samba schools carry the name of the community they are from emphasizing provenience; they have fans that many times aren’t from the communities but want to participate. Nowadays Carnaval is like a professional sport championship and the samba schools are businesses like the sports teams are. They are even sponsored by big companies like Nestle, Kimberly Clark…

Some of the most traditional are: http://www.mangueira.com.br/ (Morro da Mangueira Community), http://www.beija-flor.com.br/ (Nilopolis Community) and www.salgueiro.com.br (Andarai Community).

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