The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Império Serrano is a
samba school
A samba school ( pt, Escola de samba) is a dancing, marching, and drumming (Samba Enredo) club. They practice and often perform in a huge square- compounds ("quadras de samba") and are devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an Afro-Brazilian ...
of the
city of Rio de Janeiro, that was created on March 23 of 1947 after a disagreement of the extinct samba school
Prazer da Serrinha. It was nine times champion of the
Carnaval and can be considered one of the most traditional schools of the
samba of the city. One of the principal vainglories of its members is the open democracy of the school, established in the school's foundation. Its history is normally confused with the history of the Morro da Serrinha, despite its headquarters being in Avenida Ministro Edgard Romero near the Estação Mercadão de Madureira, but in the same neighborhood:
Madureira.
The ''Ala de Compositores'' (Ala of the Composers) of ''Império'' is one of the most respected, having in its history people such as Silas de Oliveira, Mano Décio, Aniceto do Império, Molequinho,
Dona Ivone Lara
Yvonne Lara da Costa (April 13, 1921 – April 16, 2018), better known as Dona Ivone Lara, was a Brazilian singer and composer.
Biography
Dona Ivone Lara was born as Yvonne Lara da Costa in Rio de Janeiro. She graduated in nursing, with speci ...
(first woman to participate in the ala of the composers of the samba schools), Beto sem Braço, Aluizio Machado, and
Arlindo Cruz
Arlindo Cruz (born September 14, 1958, birth name Arlindo Domingos da Cruz Filho) is a Brazilian musician and songwriter, working in the genre of samba and pagode. Arlindo took part in the most important formation of Grupo Fundo de Quintal, and i ...
.
The school's history is crowned by splendid sambas, true classics of the
samba-enredo
Samba-enredo, also known as samba de enredo, is a sub-genre of modern samba made specifically by a samba school for the festivities of Brazilian Carnival. It is a samba style that consists of a lyric and a melody created from a summary of the t ...
such as ''Aquarela Brasileira'' ("Brazilian Aquarelle") (1964 and 2004), ''Exaltação a Tiradentes'' ("Exaltation to
Tiradentes
Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (; 12 November 1746 – 21 April 1792), known as Tiradentes (), was a leading member of the colonial Brazilian revolutionary movement known as Inconfidência Mineira, whose aim was full independence from Po ...
") (1949), ''Os Cinco Bailes da História do Rio'' ("The Five Balls of the History of Rio") (1965), ''Heróis da Liberdade'' ("Liberty Heroes") (1969), ''Bumbum paticumbum Prugurundum'' (1982), among others.
In 1982, the singer
Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes (, August 12, 1942 – April 2, 1983) was a Brazilian samba and MPB singer, considered one of the greatest of her generation. She was the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies of a record, recorded the samba ''Serrinha'', in homage to Mauro Duarte and
Paulo César Pinheiro
Paulo César Francisco Pinheiro (born 28 April 1949) is a Brazilian poet and composer. One of the best poets of Musica Popular Brasileira, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs for some of the best-known entertainers in Brazil. Among his c ...
.
In the 1990s, the school confronted serious political problems that resulted in three downgradings (1991, 1997, and 1999).
The school returned to the elite of the Carnaval in 2001, though struggling to remain in the group. That year, the school brought the samba of Arlindo Cruz, Maurição, Carlos Sena, and Elmo Caetano, and it was considered by the reviewers as the most beautiful of the year. The samba narrated the story of the Resistance, nickname of the Syndicate of the Stevedores of Rio de Janeiro, with which many of the school's members were connected.
In 2004, the Império repeated the samba-enredo ''Aquarela do Brasil'', considered one of the most beautiful sambas-enredo in history, and despite financial problems and internal disputes, received a
Sambadrome standing ovation. In 2007, the school fell again to the ''
Grupo de Acesso The Grupo de Acesso - Access Group - was created for the first time in the city of Rio de Janeiro when the UGESB, FBES and UCES resolved to organize a unique competition, unlike the last three years, where schools would be divided into groups.
Be ...
'', but won the title in 2017, resulting in a 2018 return to the Special Group.
Classifications
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperio Serrano
Samba schools of Rio de Janeiro
1947 establishments in Brazil