Above, the samba school Acadêmicos do Tatuapé (Photo- Paulo Pinto : LIGASP)
Above, the samba school Acadêmicos do Tatuapé PHOTO: Paulo Pinto / LIGASP

• by João Luiz Vieira

I jumped frevo, danced maracatu, went after the electric trio, followed the Filhos de Gandhi, but I had never been to a samba school. I took that demand out of the way. Invited by a friend, I came up with the idea of ​​defending the theme “Tropicália da Paz e do Amor”, by Águia de Ouro, a samba school in the Pompéia neighborhood, in São Paulo. The parade took place at dawn yesterday, Sunday 19th. In a word: unforgettable although absolutely tiring.

Decorating samba is difficult? IT IS. The lyrics are huge, the information contained in the phrases clutters the cadence, and in some cases you don't understand exactly what you're singing. But the samba da Águia is beautiful and the chorus is contagious and catchy. After this scare, comes the fantasy. I got mine on the day of the parade. They have their measurement, so there's no mistake. In my case, at least. But there are those who wear shoes that are smaller than their feet. I was lucky.

My wing was the last one, behind the last float. Do you know what ala is? At least sixty people form this cohesive group that defends a part of the plot defended by the school. We were men of peace. At first I was very happy because the outfit did not include splendours and other trinkets that hurt the head, shoulders, arms and legs. Only later did I find out why our ward was the “simplest”. How would we end the parade, if the school was late who would run out of time? We, the final wing. And that's what happened. We were on top of the bid and for seconds we didn't lose points because of that.

Sambar is what you least do in a parade. You walk, in fact, with one or another chance to evolve and shake the chairs. The concern is to keep your line straight and upright so you don't lose points in evolution. Watching your school parade is another legend. We don't see our school, or rather, while the front committee is under the spotlight you're still standing, waiting your turn. Others see us. At most, we checked the background of the float.

Paraded by Águia de Ouro Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Rita Lee, Cauby Peixoto, Angela Maria. Asks if I saw any of them at the rally. Of course. They stay in cabins and only appear at show time. I did find Wanderléa, in the dispersion, exhausted, like all of us. If they know how to sing the samba? Difficultly. Do you know what trick I was taught at these times? Chewing gum, saluting the stands and turning away from that indecipherable phrase. That's what I did. Maybe I'll be back at the Champions' Parade on Friday. Do you know what I also heard about this new passage down the avenue? This day will be a celebration, so it's to enter semi-drunk. So it's.


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