[ti:First All-female Samba School to Compete in Brazil's Carnival]
[al:Arts and Culture]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-02-18]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Carnival is back.
[00:04.93]The Carnival is a week-long celebration marking the beginning of the Easter season in the Catholic church.
[00:14.59]Brazil's federal government expects 46 million people to join the festivities that officially begin Friday and run through Feb. 22.
[00:28.55]It features many parades filled with music and samba dancing. 
[00:34.29]Among them is a group from Turma da Paz de Madureira, or TPM, samba school.
[00:43.35]What makes TPM special is that it is the city's first all-female samba school.
[00:51.08]In Brazil, it is rare for women to be leaders of samba groups.
[00:57.39]"The big samba schools are coordinated by men, which means women are used to receiving orders," said Barbara Rigaud. 
[01:07.53]She is the 54-year-old leader of the new TPM samba school.
[01:14.70]"Here, a woman can express her desires, her ideas, her opinions . . . it is empowering, " Rigaud added.
[01:24.99]TPM started in 2011 as a bloco, the name for musical groups that play in the streets during the Carnival season. 
[01:36.49]Rigaud decided she wanted to take the women-only group further and compete in the city's samba leagues. 
[01:45.86]She won approval from city officials and the school was opened last September.
[01:52.63]It now has 320 members.
[01:56.07]However, the group is still a target of insults from some men.
[02:01.94]Gisele Rosires is one of several TPM drummers. 
[02:07.79]"Men look me up and down, they think I'm not capable," she said.
[02:13.47]She remembered her first performance with the school a year and a half ago in Madureira's park.
[02:22.23]A man took the instrument from her and said, "You're a woman, get out."
[02:28.71]In Brazil, women make up the majority of the population, but they hold few positions of leadership in government and business. 
[02:38.90]Women won only 18 percent of Lower House seats in the National Congress and an even smaller percentage in the Senate.
[02:51.20]Meanwhile, sexual attack and harassment continue to happen at Carnival's street parties. 
[02:59.05]However, over the last ten years, women have pushed back and spread the message "No means No!"
[03:08.12]For their first parade, on Feb. 19, TPM will honor Iansã, a female warrior of Candomblé.
[03:19.75]But parade rules require two men to lead the parade. 
[03:24.89]Rigaud noted that "It has to be a man for now, until it changes, until this machismo ends."
[03:35.77]TPM will compete in Rio's lowest-level samba league. 
[03:41.43]If the women perform well enough, they can climb to a higher level for next year's parade.
[03:49.13]Already, Rigaud wants to reach the Sambodrome, where only the top schools compete.
[03:57.77]"We're not here to play around," Rigaud said. 
[04:02.03]"We're here to fight, to win."
[04:05.32]I'm Ashley Thompson.