Gold Series celebrates Leci Brandão, Xande de Pilares and Conceição Evaristo

Three prominent black personalities in Brazilian culture are among the stories that will be presented starting this Friday (13) in the Ouro Series parades at Marquês de Sapucaí: Leci Brandão, Xande de Pilares and Conceição Evaristo. Gold Series celebrates Leci Brandão, Xande de Pilares and Conceição Evaristo

Former access group, the Ouro Series parades on Carnival Friday and Saturday. In total, there are 15 schools that will compete for a place in the Special Group in 2027.

The Unidos de Bangu samba school goes in search of the Rio Gold Series title with the plot The things mom taught mea tribute to the singer, composer, samba singer, actress and state deputy for the PCdoB of São Paulo Leci Brandão.

The plot of carnival actors Lino Sales, Alexandre Costa and Marcos du Val is the name of one of the songs composed by Leci throughout his career.

Vermelho e Branco in the neighborhood of Bangu, in the west zone of Rio, will tell the story of Leci Brandão on the avenue, a life of achievements and also of difficulties, shared with her mother, Dona Lecy, considered her best friend.

The plot will address “the influence of her family on her formation, her construction as a black woman and artist, her musical career and her great successes”, including her role as a parliamentarian in defense of social rights.

“In his career, he knew how to distinguish right from wrong, showing that we are, above all, the things that mother taught”, pointed out the school, in a text published on Instagram.

Creates from the West Zone

The news that it would be the plot of Unidos de Bangu was received with great emotion, after all, she lived in the region.

“I was very happy, especially because I was once a resident, not of Bangu, but of Realengo and, later, Senador Camará, which is after Bangu [em relação ao centro do Rio de Janeiro]. So, it’s something that’s not so far from my life,” he said in an interview with Brazil Agency.

This is the first time that it will be honored by a school in Rio de Janeiro, but, in São Paulo, this happened in 2012, when it was the subject of Academicos de Tatuapé. The school won that carnival and, the following year, was able to parade in the Special Group.

“She rose and remains in the Special Group to this day, in other words, we were hot at school”, he commented. “If that happens [de novo] I will thank God and my orixás so much for such a gift.”

Because of their activities in São Paulo, those who followed the development of the plot in the shed were their nieces Letícia and Noala, who also went to school rehearsals. “I noticed that they are being treated with great care. I am very moved by this event.”

History with Mangueira

The connection with samba goes back a long way and represents a certain dynasty at Estação Primeira de Mangueira.

“I am the granddaughter, daughter and goddaughter of three women from Mangueira. My grandmother, Dona Bina, paraded in Mangueira when I didn’t even dream of being born. My mother was also a pastor [coro de mulheres] de Mangueira, and my godmother at baptism, Lurdes Bolão, lived in Morro de Mangueira”, he said.

It was as a result of the moments when she visited her godmother on the hill that she received the nomination to be the first woman to join the Mangueira composers wing.

“These are facts that mean that we have a history that is always highlighted by the issue of samba”, he pointed out.

Even with so many years on the avenue, joining Unidos de Bangu on the day of the parade will be a strong emotion.

“I don’t even want to think. I already know that I’m going to dismount. I’m very anxious and, as I’ve been to Marquês de Sapucaí at other times, I know what we feel when the school gives the first beat of the deaf to start samba. It’s really exciting. Now, being a plot, I don’t even know what’s going to happen.”

This year, Leci will not parade through Mangueira, but said that she will sing in the Verde e Rosa box on Carnival Tuesday (17), at the Sambadrome.

Xande de Pilares

With the plot The air we breathe now inspires new timesUnidos do Jacarezinho will celebrate the singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and actor Xande de Pilares, who is from Rosa e Branco do Jacaré, a neighborhood in the North Zone.

To tell his story, the school will visit the places where he lived and show the trajectory of someone who became a complete artist and one of “one of the biggest names of his generation in the world of Samba”.

For the plot artist, João Silveira, transforming the life of Xande de Pilares into a plot is a task that is both challenging and very interesting, because he is also a composer with several champion samba-plots under his belt.

One of them was that of Império Serrano in 2025, which paid homage to the stalwart of the Laudeni Casemiro school, the composer Beto Sem Braço.

“We can take this gigantic name from popular culture and samba, someone who, without a doubt, marks the lives of millions of Brazilians and is as relevant as Xande de Pilares”, Silveira pointed out to Brazil Agency.

Xande de Pilares received the news that it would be the plot of Unidos do Jacarezinho very emotional, but thought about whether this would be the right time to accept.

“My answer was negative, but I lived in Jacaré and, when you know exactly the roots of a school and a community, you have to think twice before saying no. It’s an opportunity to be honored in life”, he told Brazil Agency.

The artist followed the development of the plot in the shed, the construction of the sambas and part of the dispute to choose the winner, due to the busy performance schedule.

As a composer, he assessed that samba is very well constructed with melody and lyrics, but he missed some references to its history.

“I missed some things and asked for details of my life story that I couldn’t find in the work to be rethought, and we managed to resolve it in the best way,” he said.

“I’m a very emotional guy, very connected with my life story and my journey and, sometimes, I’m totally against holding back emotion. If you get emotional, release it, because one of the good medicines that life has is emotion.”

Fire destroyed costumes

With just a few days left before the parade, on Thursday (5) the school suffered a blow. At 3:20 am, a fire in the administrative facilities of the court on Avenida Dom Hélder Câmara, north of Rio, destroyed costumes from 12 wings and accessories that were ready to be distributed to the components.

That wasn’t the only fire, in October last yearthe school lost what was being produced in the shed, which it shares with the Academicos de Vigário Geral, Inocentes de Belford Roxo and Unidos do Porto da Pedra schools.

In a statement, the school lamented last week’s fire, and president Mattheus Gonçalves recalled that the group is the first to parade on Friday (13) returning, after 12 years, to Marquês de Sapucaí, for the Gold Series.

THE Brazil Agencythe president asked that the situation be considered and that the school not be judged this year, because it would be out of balance with the other associations, which has already occurred with other associations.

“It is impossible for Jacarezinho to pass on Friday, the first school to parade at 9 pm, with minimum conditions to be judged. There is no equal condition for Jacarezinho to compete among its sisters for this championship. It ended up being harmed by this fire. The community is very upset about this.”

Xande de Pilares also regretted what happened.

“Everyone is committed to doing a good job, but, unfortunately, there are things that happen in our lives that are meant to teach something that comes a little further ahead, and for us to learn that, if life were easy, it wouldn’t be life and it wouldn’t be fun,” he said.

Serrano Empire

With the plot Ponciá Evaristo Flor do Mulungudeveloped by carnival artist Renato Esteves, Império Serrano, a traditional school in Rio de Janeiro, will pay homage to the writer Conceição Evaristo.

“Mulungu Flowers are all Africans in diaspora. It is Africa gathering its own in its branches. It is the old woman of ancestral wisdom, the flower in a state of grace that sees everything and nothing”, indicates the synopsis, a text that explains the plot of the schools.

The carnival artist understands that the plot is a marriage, in a very beautiful moment, between the Serrano Empire and the writer, who he has wanted to pay homage to for some time. When the school board made the proposal, he immediately accepted.

“I accepted immediately and this marriage has borne good fruit”, he pointed out to Brazil Agency.

Renato said that the plot was developed based on Dona Conceição’s “writings”, with hints of biographies.

“Her life story is mixed with some of her characters and, from there, we created the character Ponciá Evaristo Flor do Mulungu.”

In a text published on its website, Império explained that the term Escritovência, created by Conceição Evaristo, combines the words writing and experience, to define a way of writing that arises from life experiences, especially that of black women.

“More than fiction, escripência is a writing marked by memory, by the presence of the Portuguese, by ancestry and by the pain and resistance of everyday life, breaking with traditional literature by valuing historically silenced voices”.

The plot was well received by the school, which identified a lot with the honoree, who was embraced by Verde e Branco de Madureira.

“Dona Conceição’s literature is very close to the reality of the Serrano Empire community, which is made up mostly of black women. As the writings are the experiences of black women, the identification was direct. It was symbiotic, a very beautiful marriage”, he concluded.