Lubango – Members of the Brazilian Samba School named “Estação Primeira da Mangueira” based in Rio de Janeiro, have been since Tuesday in Lubango, southern province of Huila, aiming to research the songbook of Bantu culture, more precisely from that region, with view of the Brazilian Carnival of 2025.
The recreational cultural group is a traditional Brazilian samba school that intends to follow, during the next carnival, a trajectory of the first Africans who arrived in Brazil.
Speaking to the press, after a courtesy meeting with the governor of Huíla, Nuno Muhapi, vice chairwoman of the School for special projects sector, Rafaela Bastos, stated that the research work focuses on the motto "The celebration of African roots and the trajectory of the Bantu peoples who crossed the Atlantic, arriving in Brazil".
She revealed that the aim of this type of research is to explore national symbols, dances and musicality that ancestors did not express, the values of which will be shown during their performance at next year's Carnival edition of that South American country.
Rafaela Bastos highlighted that, alongside the carnival activity and the school's creative team, the group has developed the plot that seeks to revisit and value these roots, promoting a true celebration of African culture on the Rio de Janeiro carnival stage.
She informed that the plot will exhibit the arrival of black people in Brazil, especially the Bantu people and the way they influenced Brazilian culture.
“We are going to tell the story of the new black people who arrived in Rio de Janeiro and explore how their dances, groups and symbols are still part of our history”, she stated.
The official said that the choice of theme is linked to the celebration of African roots and the trajectory of people of African origin, revealing that the Samba School has signed a strategic partnership with Angola, with the aim of promoting cultural exchange, which will strengthen ties between the two countries.
In turn, the governor of Huíla stated that the southern region of the country has a strong cultural heritage, which should be expanded to other continents, which is why he welcomed this research, as a way of carrying the marks of its historical identity.
The Brazilian samba school, whose symbol is the colors green and pink, was created on April 23, 1928 in Morro da Mangueira neighborhood in the North Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, by samba artists Carlos Cachaça, Carlota, Zé Espinguela, Tia Tomásia and Tia Fé.
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