Debunking rumors: Rio's Carnival
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:01 pm
[With apologies to our friends in Brazil! None of this is real!]
You may have heard the rumor of a veritable trade of samba dancers and models at the recent carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but the rumors are quite far from the truth!
Not only a skilled dancer brings home a ton of cash, their contracts are highly regulated by the Carnival Negotiations Central so no surprises occur.
The classic contract covers the carnival itself and the months-long training and preparation a dancer undertakes with her chosen samba school: it's not like majestic floats and dance routines magically appear at midnight before the big parade!
Smaller samba schools sometimes get tight in cash and risk running out, and that's where your reporter thinks the rumor started that they'd just 'sell' their best performers to other schools!
In reality, carnival contracts work just like in soccer: there's a healthy transfer market where contracts and their terms are bought and sold, the performer simply moves from training with one school and dance master to another. News of a particularly pricey transfer between schools (the carnival is no joke), the imagination of some old guy watching beautiful dancers parading in their costumes... and here we concoct the rumor of ridiculous modern slave trade!
So there we go, nothing out of age-old traditions!
And the fantastic 'samba slave markets' you may have heard about in Rio? Nothing but the training grounds of old samba schools! Did you really think dancing girls were being bought and sold smiling at the rhythm of a samba?
It's in fact absolutely normal for school affiliates to 'scout' other schools! Like it's absolutely normal for them to ask particularly promising dancers to perform for them: far from being a humiliating ordeal, performers are honored to show off their skills to prospective 'buyers', knowing well what a windfall a good transfer can be for their old school and fellow dancers!
And now, dear reader, I think you completely understand what the 'mass sale' video you may have seen is actually showing!
L'Escola de Samba de Tijuca massively ran out of budget this year for their crystal float (!) and they simply had to transfer as many of their best dancers as they could: being a massive event from such a big school (and in need of so much cash!), it was absolutely natural to organize it as an auction of sort.
Rest assured that CNC officers oversaw the proceedings and ensured each dancer had the chance to perform at the best of their abilities in front of all registered samba schools, and organize closed-door demonstrations as needed.
'Groups of half-naked slaves led down the street to their new masters at the rhythm of drums,' I quote here one of the ridiculous newspaper articles on the topic, were obviously nothing but performers getting to their new escuela at the end of the event guided by their new directors! Look closely at the images, you'll see everyone having a great time with at most a little horseplay as performers tease each others and their new trainers.
Alexa here from The Internet Times, hoping we finally set the record straight and ready to debunk any new rumors!
You may have heard the rumor of a veritable trade of samba dancers and models at the recent carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but the rumors are quite far from the truth!
Not only a skilled dancer brings home a ton of cash, their contracts are highly regulated by the Carnival Negotiations Central so no surprises occur.
The classic contract covers the carnival itself and the months-long training and preparation a dancer undertakes with her chosen samba school: it's not like majestic floats and dance routines magically appear at midnight before the big parade!
Smaller samba schools sometimes get tight in cash and risk running out, and that's where your reporter thinks the rumor started that they'd just 'sell' their best performers to other schools!
In reality, carnival contracts work just like in soccer: there's a healthy transfer market where contracts and their terms are bought and sold, the performer simply moves from training with one school and dance master to another. News of a particularly pricey transfer between schools (the carnival is no joke), the imagination of some old guy watching beautiful dancers parading in their costumes... and here we concoct the rumor of ridiculous modern slave trade!
So there we go, nothing out of age-old traditions!
And the fantastic 'samba slave markets' you may have heard about in Rio? Nothing but the training grounds of old samba schools! Did you really think dancing girls were being bought and sold smiling at the rhythm of a samba?
It's in fact absolutely normal for school affiliates to 'scout' other schools! Like it's absolutely normal for them to ask particularly promising dancers to perform for them: far from being a humiliating ordeal, performers are honored to show off their skills to prospective 'buyers', knowing well what a windfall a good transfer can be for their old school and fellow dancers!
And now, dear reader, I think you completely understand what the 'mass sale' video you may have seen is actually showing!
L'Escola de Samba de Tijuca massively ran out of budget this year for their crystal float (!) and they simply had to transfer as many of their best dancers as they could: being a massive event from such a big school (and in need of so much cash!), it was absolutely natural to organize it as an auction of sort.
Rest assured that CNC officers oversaw the proceedings and ensured each dancer had the chance to perform at the best of their abilities in front of all registered samba schools, and organize closed-door demonstrations as needed.
'Groups of half-naked slaves led down the street to their new masters at the rhythm of drums,' I quote here one of the ridiculous newspaper articles on the topic, were obviously nothing but performers getting to their new escuela at the end of the event guided by their new directors! Look closely at the images, you'll see everyone having a great time with at most a little horseplay as performers tease each others and their new trainers.
Alexa here from The Internet Times, hoping we finally set the record straight and ready to debunk any new rumors!
