2009 Carnival in Rio de Janeiro promises new thrills. Robert Szaniecki, former Grande Rio Samba School carnival director, has been announced as the new carnival head for the traditional Mangueira Samba School. Max Lopes - 5 times winner of the Rio Carnival, was in charge of the Mangueira´s art and visual creations for eight years.

In the Carioca samba world, the carnival director is the most important artistic position within a samba school, similar to the conductor in an orchestra. He is responsible for making the final decisions regarding the samba schools parade theme, costumes, floats, visual scenario, special effects, and choreography. (We will be posting a specific article to describe the roles and responsibilities of a Carnival Director in Rio´s samba schools. )




Max Lopes, seen above, was uncomfortable at his post, since Mangueira Samba School was only able to obtain the 10th place in 2008 Samba School Contest in Rio, its worst position since 1994´ carnival, when it bitterly suffered 11th position.



This is a non-commercial blog devoted to wonders of Rio de Janeiro, with a focus to the Brazilian Carnival. Our sole objective is to describe how Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is magically created, its artists, dancers and musicians that make up the world’s largest show. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.