GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira

The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Estação Primeira de Mangueira known colloquially as Mangueira is one of the most traditional and best supported samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. It was founded on April 28, 1928 in Morro da Mangueira, near the region of Maracanã by Carlos Cachaça, Cartola, Zé Espinguela, and Nelson Cavaquinho, among others. It is headquartered on Rua Visconde de Niterói, in the district of the same name. Mangueira has won Brazilian Carnaval parade competitions 19 times (1932, 1933, 1934, 1940, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1960, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1984, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1998, 2002 and 2016), and has been vice-champion 19 times.

In the early days of samba, the community around Mangueira emerged as a pioneer of the Rio Carnival through its 'Cordões', in which a group of masked participants were led by a teacher with a whistle followed by a veritable percussion orchestra. In Mangueira, there were at least two Cordões: the Mountain Warriors (Guerreiros da Montanha) and the Triumphs of Mangueira (Triunfos da Mangueira). Later came the 'Ranches', which introduced several very important concepts to the carnival procession: the participation of women, floats, a theme to connect the procession, and the use of woodwind, brass and string instrumentation (particularly plucked strings). They also added two special dancers, now known as master of ceremonies (mestre-sala) and flag bearer (porta-bandeira). Three ranches stood out in Mangueira: Drop of Love (Pingo de Amor), Pearl of Egypt (Pérola do Egito) and Princes of the Forest (Príncipes da Mata). By 1920 the 'carnival blocks' with elements taken from both the Cordão and Ranch traditions, along with the now familiar percussion block, debuted. These were a strong influence on the development of the other samba schools.

There was no lack of blocks in the Mangueira area. In just the Buraco Quente neighborhood, one could find the Tia Fé, Tia Tomázia and Mestre Candinho blocks. Most famous of all was the Bloco dos Arengueiros. It was Cartola, aged 19, who felt it was time to channel the natural gifts of the blocks' rogues and thus to show them in a more organized light, displaying the power and choreographic legacy of their African roots.

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Wikipedia