The samba schools and the sociocultural transformations in Rio Novo's carnival: memories and representations of carnival parades in a small country town in Minas Gerais (1960-1979)

Abstract

This article aims to present part of the history of carnival in Rio Novo - MG, through the testimonies of foliões from the city of yesteryear, which portrayed in their memories the emergence and consolidation of the Samba Schools in the city carnival between 1960 and 1979. Within this theme, I approach the racist and discriminatory organization of the social arrangement of the carnival clubs in Rio Novo, the crisis of the club carnival, the rise of the black Samba Schools, and the consolidation of the street carnival and the Samba School parades as the main attraction of the small town of Rio Novo, seeking to show that this historical development partially undermined the traditional social and racial segregation of the city.