Renato Lage

Renato Rui de Souza Lage (born 21 May 1949) is a Brazilian carnival organizer with the Rio Carnival. He worked extensively with his wife, Márcia Lage.
He helped to develop high-tech technologies for usage in the design of carnival blocs for the Rio Carnival, particularly during the 1990s with his partnership with Lilian Rabello. He has been involved with the Rio Carnival since 1979, winning four titles in the Grupo Especial.
Lage was born on 21 May 1949 in Rio de Janeiro. He began to participate in carnivals in 1978 as a support member and chief of allegories with Salgueiro, then led by Fernando Pamplona. Beginning in 1979, he began his solo career with Unidos da Tijuca, with the group achieving their advancement to group 1B that year, with an enredo about Delmiro Gouveia, in homage to the visionary industrialist from Brazil's Northeast. Lage met Rabello leaving the Escola de Artes do Parque Lage and asked for her to work with him. They stayed with Tijuca until 1982. In 1983, Lage went with Rabello to Império Serrano, a traditional samba school based in the Madureira neighborhood.
In his first year as a carnival organizer with Império Serrano, he developed costumes and allegories for the enredo by Fernando Pamplona "Mãe, Baiana Mãe", developed and researched by Rabello, about the traditional habits of people from the state of Bahia. The enredo also gained media attention and attention by the public in general for the way in which the daily routine of the senhoras of samba were portrayed. Starting in 1985, he began develop the enredos created and developed by Rabello, forming a duo. Lage would remain with Império until 1986. In 1987, he returned to Salgueiro, where he would develop the carnival bloc for the enredo "E por quê não?", authored by Rabello, becoming a precursor to the bold artistic style that would consecrate them years later with Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel. The following year, Lage and Rabello would transfer over to Caprichosos, making two more enredos with Rabello.
In 1990, Castor de Andrade returned to Mocidade after two years and started a plan to reformulate the school based out of Padre Miguel. This came after a period in which they dealt with bad results and the loss of one of their biggest names, Fernando Pinto, due to an automobile accident. Andrade invited Lage and Rabello, along with set designer and television director Maurício Sherman to develop an enredo about the turning of the decade. The unfolding of events, along with the strong expectations that came with the return of Andrade to the school, made the enredo symbolically not just about the turn of the decade but of the return of Mocidade, which intended to start the 1990s renewed and on a strong note. To that end, Sherman was dismissed and Lage and Rabello gave a start to the conception of that year's winning enredo, "Vira-Virou, a Mocidade Chegou". The enredo was a profound look back at the school's past, recounting moments from its inception by members of a football team, Independente Futebol Clube, them winning their first title, their legendary bateria, memorable blocs and their biggest names, such as Arlindo Rodrigues and Fernando Pinto, along with the unforgettable Mestre André. They were also known for their participations with Mocidade in the carnivals of 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2002.
In 2003, Lage returned to Salgueiro in time for its 50-year anniversary. In 2007, Lage worked simultaneously in two samba schools, with both Salgueiro and with the commission for Império de Casa Verde, in São Paulo, together with his wife Márcia Lage and other members.
In 2008, he repeated the feat, but this time working for Império Serrano, becoming the champions for Grupo de acesso A, along with being the vice-champion in the Special Group along with Salgueiro. In 2009, Salgueiro won the competition with the enredo "Tambor", becoming the most memorable performance at Sapucaí and the school was successful by the public and critically. In 2011, he made an enredo about cinema in Rio de Janeiro, having made giant designs such as a replica of King Kong at Central do Brasil metro station. The bloc proved to be difficult to work on in terms of the harmony and delayed the launching of the bloc. In 2012, he had another dual performance as along with Salgueiro (where he became a vice-champion), Lage also became a carnival organizer with Império da Zona Norte, reaching third place for the Porto Alegre-based school. In 2013, he made the enredo "Fama", earning 4th place. He later would become vice-champion, in a partnership with his wife Márcia Lage for the enredo "Gaia, a vida em nossas mãos".
In 2016, he would repeat the partnership with Márcia, developing with her the bloc for Vai-Vai, along with remaining in Salgueiro. He continued working with his wife for two years after with Grande Rio. In 2019, they were hired by Portela going into Carnival 2020. The year after, they developed the enredo "Guajupiá, Terra Sem Males" for the historic samba school. The bloc was corrected and without setbacks, but the school came in a disappointing seventh place, frustrating those who were awaiting a better result. Even with that, the Lages continued with Portela for 2021 and had announced the theme: Igi Osé Baobá, which told the story of and portrayed the symbology of the baobabs, giant, long-living trees originating in Africa. They came in 5th place. They would be contracted again for 2022, but Portela would come in 10th place. They would be released from Portela after a mutual agreement was made.
Listed below are the carnival blocs designed by Lage: