There probably isn't a boy under five in Rio de Janeiro's Serrinha favela who cannot beat out the complicated syncopated rhythms of the Brazilian samba. Rio has 77 adult samba schools, which are troupes of up to 4,000 dancers, singers and musicians, most of them from the favelas, who practice all year long and spend heavily on elaborate costumes to compete against other samba schools during carnival week. But he was unsuccessful. They all turned me down. Today, the school has 1,200 kids ages 7 to 17 from Serrinha and neighboring favelas.
Thousands more participate in nine other children's samba schools that have since been founded.
The children have their own parade day, Carnival Tuesday, and perform before judges. Three-fourths of the children join the adult schools when they turn 18. Last year, only 10 percent of the kids in the Empire of the Future school failed their grade, a low rate by Rio standards. Some 52 children are learning the costume craft, and some of the best adult samba schools have commissioned the shop to make welded-wire headpieces for their costumes. But when I see the children parading down the streets during carnival, the word happy' is not enough to express how I feel.