Finally Ashes Day in Rio-de-Janeiro!! So much going on that I had to take some time to rest. The street parties blocos de rua and its charming bands and groups can be quite energy consuming!

Today I decided to explain, or better say, to try to express the real local concept or definition for the famous muses of Rio Carnival that can be called by these names: Drum Queens, Queen of the Drums Queen of the Bateria, or even Percussion Queens, as I have heard some of the translations given for Brazil's Carnival "Rainha de Bateria.

To fully understand the concept of the carnival Queen of Drum Section, Drums Queen, not only in Rio-de-Janeiro, but all over Brazil´s Carnival, we have know that every samba school
necessarily has a large drum section (drum battery, percussion) or Bateria in Portuguese. Drum section is the core component of the samba school, since it produces all the rhythm. The drum queen or muse, would have as its official attributes or functions to draw the attention from the crowd and introduce the percussion/drum section to the audience during the parade.

But there a lot more to it, as we will see. Much more!!



Drum Queens are muses, and since she positions herself naturally in front of the drums (she literally has her own "private space"), the occupant of this position is always in the limelight of the parade and is subject to fierce competition all year long. This Brazil Muse is the one that photographers always look after, give interviews, is invited to V.I.P. parties and are pampered as celebrities. For this reason there can only be one and only one drum queen for each samba school>, each year.

A samba- queen for one year? Aren’t nobility titles awarded for lifetime? Not in samba! Once the rainha de bateria is elected for a samba school parade for a given year, there is no is guarantee she will hold the position for the next year…How is that? So once elected, aren't they automatically re-elected? A drums queen at Rio de Janeiro's carnival is almost a full time job, as we will continue to explore tomorrow.

For today, let’s now look at some of these Goddesses of Carnaval and try to grasp a little of their royal energy! We will continue to describe how muses are chosen, what are their musts and credentials, the criteria the samba schools decide upon, and what are the paths a contestant must trace to at least try to be considered.






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