Old guards of samba schools join Teresa Cristina in the project Memories of Samba: Terreiros

The Memória do Samba: Terreiros project promotes free meetings between singer Teresa Cristina and the old guards of samba schools - Disclosure

In celebration of Rio de Janeiro's anniversary, the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, through the Municipal Department of Culture (SMC), is promoting, starting in March, a series of musical encounters between singer Teresa Cristina and the old guards of the city's samba schools. With the aim of preserving this legacy, the Memória do Samba: Terreiros project is promoting free encounters between the singer and the old guards of Portela, Mangueira, Salgueiro and Império Serrano. The first of 16 encounters – four for each school – will be on March 1st, at 17 pm, at the Arena Carioca Fernando Torres, in Madureira. All shows will be held in cultural tents spread throughout the North Zone and suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, where people breathe samba, with free admission upon donation of a book, an initiative of the Rio World Capital of Books project.

The greatest exponents of the nobility of Rio de Janeiro samba, the old guards are the owners of a rich oral culture and the definitive repertoire of the great groups. Their members are the living history that is told through the sambas de terreiro, which set the samba schools on fire as they prepare for Carnival. If today samba is recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Brazil, much of this is due to the groups and the old guards, who since their foundations have fought against the prejudices imposed by the resistance to the genre.

To accompany these living monuments of Samba, Teresa Cristina delved into the songbooks of the samba schools and their main composers, such as the giant Candeia. The singer was the first and only woman to win an Estandarte de Ouro for best samba-enredo, by Renascer de Jacarepaguá, in 2015, precisely with the theme “Candeia”.

In this series of shows, Teresa Cristina will introduce Samba de Terreiro to the Rio de Janeiro public, rescue the legacy of this musical genre and pay tribute to the great samba artists who contributed and continue to contribute to the musical identity of Rio de Janeiro.

– Putting on these shows is drawing attention to a rich repertoire that cannot be lost. Portela, Mangueira, Salgueiro and Império Serrano are the four schools with the most samba de terreiro composers and we need to remember these wonderful songs, their authors and establish an ethical commitment to the social function of the genre – said the singer.

Service:

Date: 1 / 3 / 2025
Location: Fernando Torres Arena Carioca – Madureira
Show starts: 17pm
Participation: Portela's old guard
Entry: Donation of a book