Império Serrano’s mission was to start the Special Group parades on the Marquês de Sapucaí in 2023. The current champion of the Série Ouro, Reizinho de Madureira, showed credentials that make the fan dream of remaining in the elite of the Rio Carnival. With an impressive visual set, the 47yearold boy entered the avenue ready to stage his biggest carnival of this century. At the end of the parade, one feels that the school has achieved its goal. As expected, the conspiracy in honor of Arlindo Cruz moved not only the Imperians, but also the vast majority of the public present on the avenue. The presence of the honoree in the last car crowned the beautiful presentation of the school. * SEE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOWROOM HERE
Although the association was visually flawless, it made mistakes in its presentation, the married couple Marlon Flôres and Daniele Nascimento, master of ceremonies and flag bearers, faced the wind in the first module and the flag finally rolled. The irregular corner, perhaps due to the large amount of costumes and development that also gives cause for concern, a large space was left in front of the fourth allegory in the module of the first judgment, it is worth remembering that this module has a double cabin.
With the storyline “Lugares de Arlindo”, signed by carnival designer Alex de Souza, who was making his debut at the school, Império walked through the life and work of one of her greatest strongholds, the singer and composer Arlindo Cruz. The association finished its presentation with 67 minutes.
READ SPECIAL ARTICLES FROM THE PARADE BELOW
* Baianas from the Serrano Empire carry the strength from São Jorge to the Avenida
* Imperians celebrate the return of the Serrano Empire to the Special Group
* With a herbal bath and the protection of xangô, the third allegory of the empire celebrates Arlindo’s religiosity
* ‘The Show Must Go On’ car by Império Serrano brought Arlindo Cruz in honor with longtime friends
* Imperianos celebrate the debut of Ito Melodia on the official microphone of Reizinho de Madureira
Front Commission
The front assignment, choreographed by Júnior Scapin on his return to school, was entitled The Fantasy Our Place: Pray, Love and Faith A Ritual of Healing and Axé…, a banjo was used as the scenographic element, the components one on Performing Jongobased dance was the highlight of the presentation when one component featured Grandma Maria, Founder and Healer.
At a certain point, a smoke at the foot of the tamarind tree caused the components to swap places, the clothing that had previously been all white gave way to silver with green for the male components and red and gold for the female components. The biggest surprise was at the end of the presentation, on top of the tamarind tree, Arlindinho, Arlindo Cruz’s son, appeared and played a banjo, to applause and fireworks to the delight of the audience.
Master of ceremonies and flag bearer
On her return to the Special Group, Império relied on the experience of Marlon Flôres and Danielle Nascimento. The couple’s passage through the avenue was problematic, in the first judgment module, where the judges’ double cabin is located, the couple began their presentation with the classic dance of the subject, both performed the art with great elegance, however, a bit slowness was observed . The biggest problem came at the end of the choreography, the wind was Danielle’s biggest opponent and the experienced flag bearer couldn’t stop the flag from rolling. In the following modules, the couple managed to play a better role, although the slowness observed in the first module was repeated.
The couple’s beautiful costume was called “Poema aos Peregrinos de Fé”, inspired by the samba that Arlindo composed for Império Serrano in 2015. The predominantly green clothes impressed with their beauty and mood. Accompanying the couple were the guards, who carried banners with images of São Jorge and Santa Bárbara.
harmony
It may be superfluous to praise Ito Melodia, but it is always valid, after years at the helm of the União da Ilha he came to the Empire with suspicions, but with all his talent the performer is already showing that he is fully in the 47’s is integrated. The oneyearold boy, with whom he gave another show together with his sound car this Sunday, also showed his connection to the samba symphony. Despite the excellent direction of the samba, the school’s singing was erratic and oscillating.
The stations at the beginning of the school had heavy costumes, such as Station 1, “Santo Guerreiro”, Station 5, “Caciqueando no Bagaço da Laranja”, Station 8, “Buraco, Sueca pro Tempo Passar, Tem Jogo de Lona, Caipira e Bilhar” , although not extensive, the second module passed the assessment without singing. After the battery left the first retreat, the school grew in song, Wing 14, “Who has not seen Tia Eulália dance? And Still Has Jongo in the Light of the Moon” and 23, Festa no Arraiá. Vila Canta o Brasil, granaries of the world. Água no Feijão que Chega Mais Um” were examples of unified singing. The end of school Arlindo Cruz attended in the last car seems to have set the community on fire.
plot
The carnival designer Alex de Souza was responsible for the development of the “Lugares de Arlindo” plot, he chose to bring six sectors to the avenue. The plot evolved from one of Arlindo Cruz’s most iconic songs, “Meu Lugar.” Arlindo Cruz is not only one of the school’s greatest strongholds, but also one of Brazil’s greatest popular artists. Alex’s idea was to go through the works without forgetting the artist’s life. In what was suggested, the plot passed very clearly through the allegories, the allegories and fantasies managed to convey clearly the life story being told.
The first sector told the relationship of the artist with the carnival group Cacique de Ramos, the second showed the suburb so present in the laureate’s discography, the third sector showed religiosity, in the fourth sector we saw the romantic songs sung by Arlindo and The Fifth Sector portrayed Arlindo as a samba enredo composer and also his love for Babi Cruz, his wife. The final sector was the ultimate tribute to Arlindo, where the Empire reiterated that the “show must go on”. The only fly in the ointment was that the third couple, master of ceremonies and flag bearer, was observed to have swapped positions with wing 20.
evolution
In general, the development of the empire was compact and exciting, the wings were extremely organized, the components knew their role within the wings, it was a fluid and coherent development, but without losing the excitement and relaxation that a carnival parade requires. However, there was a problem with the fourth car, a hole was left in front of the first judgment module, it is worth noting that this module has a double cab, which should cause a greater penalty.
Samba Enredo
Composed by Sombrinha, Aluísio Machado, Carlos Senna, Carlitos Beto Br, Rubens Gordinho and Ambrosio Aurélio, the samba has a unique feature in its format, which is in acrostic form, the initials of each stanza forming the name of Arlindo Domingos da Cruz Filho in that sense Vertical. The work goes through several moments in Arlindo’s life and mentions famous songs of the artist. At the parade, the samba took a while to stir, but after the drums got past the first kick, the school started singing with more enthusiasm and the relationship with the audience also grew, the highlight being the main choir, in which the whole school sang with much excitement, it is also worth highlighting the other refrains present in the work, the “Dagô, Dagô” fell in the favor of the components and the crowd.
allegories and props
Império Serrano took five cars and a tripod to Sapucaí, the allegorical set impressed with size, workmanship and richness of detail. The school banked on the grandiosity of the opening to impress the audience, a feature of carnival artist Alex de Souza, the threechassis wing car was called “Imperio Serrano was born, Reizinho do meu lugar, pro santo warrior to bless”, the title of the Allegory was extracted from verses of the samba conspiracy “Silas canta Serrinha” brought to the avenue by the Império in 2016, of which Arlindo is one of the composers. A huge sculpture of São Jorge Guerreiro, the school’s patron saint, drew attention for its exquisite workmanship, as did the dragons that pierced the car. The school represented their titles in the largest symbol, the imperial crown, in all there were 8 smaller crowns and one larger. It is worth noting that a crown on the third part of the wing opening has been deleted.
After the parade, the tripod “Caciqueando no Fundo do Quintal,” the expressions on the Apache sculpture attracted attention. The second car, “On Every Corner, A Pagoda, A Bar,” evoked the nighttime atmosphere of traditional Rio bars and referred to games, drinks, and conversations among friends. The third car, “Go to my father’s Xangô quarry, please take an Abô bath,” carried a large Xangô sculpture representing the honoree’s religiosity. The height and movement of the sculpture attracted attention.
The fourth allegory: “Come and shine at my carnival. My standardbearer, on the avenue of my heart” referenced Arlindo’s participation as a composer in several sambas with a storyline, the highlighted character is the standardbearer, a symbol of the carnival, the character was a tribute to Babi Cruz, the singer’s wife and partner. To the To end the parade, Império Serrano led Arlindo Cruz, a great guest of honor of the story, to the final allegory entitled “The show must go on”, the allegory moved by the presence of Arlindo and also by the very well done sculpture of The singer.
costumes
A show of good taste by Alex de Souza, Reizinho de Madureira’s costume set was luxurious even in a financially complicated Carnival period, the Império costumes showed a very high level of sophistication and good taste, the volumetry was present in most of the The Wings, very beautiful and well finished, the costumes drew attention to fill the entire avenue.
The use of color was also used very well, with green, the club’s dominant colour, running through the entire parade. Among the most beautiful costumes, the following can be highlighted: “In the shadow of the Tamarineira, the cacique and the pagoda”, “In the sleeping block of shrimp”, “Portela, Só Pra Contrariar” and “Grandma Maria, the Terreiro Benzer”. “. A single wing was among the set presented by the school, the imagination of some components of wing 12, And Beer To Celebrate, fell apart.
More highlights
As expected, Reizinho warmed up the audience right at the beginning with a list of memorable sambas, the school decided to present the sambas “O Império do Divino”, “And you will see that your son does not flee from the fight” and “Aquarela from Brasil”.
In the second year the Queen Darlin Ferrattry stepped in front of the drums commanded by Master Vitinho but this time she presented her daughter Wenny Isa who made her debut as the school’s drum princess, with whom both Darling was very emotional and happy, to share the room with her daughter. The school’s queen, Quitéria Chagas, paraded in front of the front committee and also received much affection from the audience.
In the final allegory, some of Arlindo Cruz’s friends paraded, including Regina Casé, Péricles, and Hélio de La Peña.