It was simply impossible to see the Sabuqai Sambadrome in Rio silenced. But apparently, the Covid Pandemic hit also the joyful samba dancers part of the famous
Carnival. Each year 40 days before Easter, the second largest city in Brazil is hosting one of the most iconic and prestigious carnivals in the whole Earth. But in 2021 it is cancelled. In
this video we meet Bianca Monteiro, Belisario Cuhna and Marcus Fereira who are telling us their story about how they manage to survive during the last year and which are their hopes for the next one.
The Carnival is a business that is bringing thousands of millions of tourists to Rio and for the last year the economy of the city earned nearly a billion dollars. Belisario is a costume designer creating carnival costumes for nearly 30 years. His experience with the economic consequences of the pandemic is quite disastrous: he had a team of 40 people working with him on designing the shiny dresses and costumes. However, this year without the Carnival he was forced to let everyone go and is now hoping for the better days to come.
Bianca Monteiro is announced as “Drum Queen for Portelo”: the person who is in charge of leading the marching band through the Sambadrome, one of the most important roles in the parade. Her samba school has been crowned as champion 22 times! For the past year Bianca is closed at home, having online samba classes and despite the challenges she is confessing that she was able to make some money throughout the 2020. And she doesn't lose hope and can’t wait to step out on her heels and represent her school and community.
Marcus is part of the reigning samba schools from 2020. He claims that right now all of the clubs and schools started preparing for the next year as well as the citizens of Rio who are getting prepared to throw the best carnival ever held. They are all full of hope and optimism that once the world is overcoming the COVID, Rio again deserves to be crowned as a center of the bright spirit and optimism.
