Samba
schools, which started off first in Rio de Janeiro in 1928, have evolved around the centrepiece
event of the Rio Carnaval. The schools parade down a lane lined with
grandstands, thousands of members per school dressed in coordinated costumes,
dancing a rehearsed samba routine to original music. Each school's presentation
has a central theme, such as a historical event, a famous person or a native
Brazilian legend. The samba song must be developed around the theme, and the
parade organised by each school must detail the theme through costumes,
paintings or papier-mâché sculpture.

Each samba
school rehearses all year round for this event and all its members take part in
the rehearsals, whether experts or not. It is a place where people who always
wanted to write a song, play a percussion instrument or choreograph a dance
will have their opportunity. Unlike the Rose Parade, which has largely been
taken over by high-budget professionals, the samba parade is the work of
neighbourhood communities working together. Much more than musical groups, they
are in fact, neighbourhood associations that cater for a variety of community
needs (such as educational and health care resources) in a country with
grinding poverty and poor social safety net.