Vila Isabel

The History of Vila Isabel

The house of “China”, the school’s first president, served as the school’s administrative headquarters until 1958. Rehearsals were held at Campo do Andaraí. The Vila’s first theme, From Slave to Queen, had only 100 members parading at Praça Onze: 27 drummers, 13 baianas and 50 other people. Paulo Brazão, one of the school’s founders, was one of Vila Isabel’s biggest winners of samba themes. In 1960, the school took first place in Group 3 with the theme Poeta dos Escravos.

One of the school's best-known figures is, without a doubt, Martinho da Vila. He joined the group in 1965: he was part of the Aprendizes da Boca do Mato Samba School and was already leaving for Império Serrano, when he was invited to join the Vila Isabel composers' wing. At the new school, Martinho restructured the way of composing sambas with a plot, with the introduction of softer lyrics and melodies, and had four consecutive hits. In the 1967 carnival, Martinho da Vila composed Carnaval de Ilusões, in 1968 Quatro Séculos de Modas e Costumes, in 1969, Iaiá do Cais Dourado and in 1970, Glórias Gaúchas.

In 1979, Vila emerged victorious in Group 1B, with a plot written by Yêdda Pinheiro, talking about the golden years of Carlos Machado. It was the first time that a school paid tribute to a living cultural figure. Today it is commonplace, but this was the first time this was done.

In the special group, Vila Isabel won its first championship only in 1988, in the parade of the samba-enredo Kizomba, the festival of race. The parade left its mark on the samba catwalk, due to its use of alternative materials, such as straw and sisal, and due to the determination of the school's members. For many who follow the parades, this is considered one of the greatest parades of all time. Unfortunately, due to a severe storm that left the city of Rio de Janeiro in a state of public calamity, the Parade of Champions was not held.

After the 1988 victory, the school still managed to place well with Direito é Direito in 1989 (4th place), which was notable for the leading committee formed by pregnant women. However, in the 1990s, the school alternated between 7th and 12th place. In 2000, however, Vila Isabel came in 13th place, being relegated to the Access Group. In 2002, with a plot about Nilton Santos, Vila was not promoted to the Special Group due to a mistake by a judge, who swapped the score of 10 that would have been given to Vila for a lower score, which would have been given to União da Ilha. With that, Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz was crowned champion.

In 2004, with a plot about the city of Paraty, Vila returned to the special, becoming champion of the Access Group. In 2005, with Joãosinho Trinta at the helm, who was unable to continue the work due to a stroke, Vila brought a plot about ships that gave it 10th place.

In 2006, Vila Isabel took to the avenue the theme “Soy loco por ti América – A vila canta a latinidade” (I'm crazy about you America – The village sings Latinness), by carnival artist Alexandre Louzada, and won its second title, after much suffering in the counting process. With a catchy chorus, Vila Isabel's samba theme was one of the ones that got the stands singing the most and, curiously, was what determined the title.[31] PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, financed Vila Isabel's carnival with a donation of R$1,900,000. However, according to a report in “Jornal do Brasil” on March 3, 2006, Venezuelan authorities were investigating the sponsorship and its true value, as there are versions that the amount was between US$1,450,000 and US$1,200,000. The Venezuelan morning newspaper Reporte reported on its cover that more than 500 people traveled to Rio de Janeiro with all expenses paid by PDVSA to participate in the Vila Isabel parade. In 2007, with a plot about Metamorfoses, by Cid Carvalho, who was debuting his solo career, finishing in 6th place.

In the 2008 carnival, talking about the Workers of Brazil, Vila comes with a rich and visually perfect parade. However, a maneuver error by the last float damaged Noel's school, but it did not take away the shine of Miss Brazil 2007 Natália Guimarães who took on the role of drum queen.

In the 2009 carnival, Vila talked about the centenary of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, with the theme “Neste Palco da Folia, Minha Vila Anuncia: Theatro Municipal, a Centenária Maravilha”, written by carnival designer Alex de Souza, who in partnership with the controversial Paulo Barros, finished in 4th place.

In the 2010 carnival, Vila celebrated Noel Rosa's centenary with the theme “Noel: the presence of the poet of Vila”, by carnival designer Alex de Souza. This carnival featured a samba composed by Martinho da Vila, which had not happened since 1993, as well as the debuts of Mestre Átila as drum director and the presence of Gracyanne Barbosa as drum queen. However, the school, which was fighting for yet another title, finished in the same position as the previous year.

Months after Carnival, its president at the time, Wilson Vieira Alves (better known as “Moisés”), was arrested during Operation Alvará, after being accused of leading the mafia linked to the exploitation of slot machines in Niterói and São Gonçalo. After his arrest, his son Wilsinho took over as interim director of the school, who also held the position of superintendent.

In the 2011 Carnival, the school presented a theme about hair, a theme developed by carnival designer Rosa Magalhães, and only came in fourth place. That same year, president Wilsinho was elected to lead the group.

In the 2012 Carnival, Vila Isabel was the last school to parade on the first day, with the sun quite bright in Sapucaí, it took the theme “Você Semba Lá… Que Eu Sambo Cá – O Canto Livre de Angola”, about Angola in a parade that marked the school and made it come in third place.

In the 2013 Carnival, the school paid tribute to the farmer with the theme “The Vila sings about Brazil, the world’s breadbasket – Water in the beans, another one has arrived”. The school received sponsorship of approximately 10 million reais from the German company BASF, one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world. The Vila Isabel parade was the last on the second day of parades. Vila Isabel was considered by many, both the public and experts, to be one of the favorites, along with Beija-Flor, Unidos da Tijuca de Paulo Barros and Salgueiro. On the day of the counting, however, Vila stood out above the other schools and won its third title in the Special Group, thus consecrating the best samba of 2013 composed by André Diniz, Arlindo Cruz, Martinho da Vila, Tunico and Leonel

The successful partnership with BASF was maintained for the 2014 carnival, when the school spoke again about the field.[46] After the title, the school was unable to renew the contracts of the performer Tinga, the master-of-ceremonies and flag-bearer couple Julinho and Ruth, as well as the carnival artist Rosa Magalhães, bringing Gilsinho as the new singer, the couple Marquinhos and Giovanna, in addition to the return of the carnival artist Cid Carvalho, speaking about the Biomes and Brazilian Folklore.[52]

Months later, another contract was not renewed: Paulinho Botelho, who after two years, left the drum section, which was now led by Wallan. And in the early hours of December 9, the school chose its samba for the 2014 carnival, which was once again composed by André Diniz, Evandro Bocão, Professor Wladimir, Arlindo Cruz and Artur das Ferragens. The samba beat another samba, seen as the school's favorite, by: Tunico da Vila, Pedro Luís, Suzana Pires and Thales Nunes. In November, the carnival designer responsible for the 2014 parade left the school. The school announced that a carnival committee with professionals from the school would prepare the 2014 carnival. Months later, Cid was reinstated as the school's carnival designer, after apologizing and asking for a second chance. Still in 2014, the then president Wilsinho Alves gave up trying for reelection, before that, he paid off all the school's debts, something that was estimated at more than 800 thousand Reais.[60] Elizabeth Aquino was elected President of Vila Isabel for the 2015/2016/2017 triennium.

In 2015, Vila Isabel came in second-to-last in the ranking of parades with themes based on maestro Isaac Karabtchevsky. Three months after the carnival, then-president Elisabeth Aquino resigned, arguing that there was a disagreement between her and some members of her own administration. Luciano Ferreira took her place, who, in addition to reinforcing the sound system with the arrival of Igor Sorriso – coming from São Clemente, hired carnival designer Alex de Souza, who in 2016 developed the theme “Memories of 'Father Arraia' – A Pernambuco Dream, a Brazilian Legacy” that pays homage to the culture of Pernambuco and politician Miguel Arraes. On December 24, 2015, the school lost composer Leonel, who was killed outside his home. The following year, in a visually better parade, Vila Isabel was the first school to parade on the second night. With the sambadrome still cold, the school put on an average parade and, paying homage to Miguel Arraes, achieved eighth place, a better performance than in 2015, when the school came in 11th.

In 2017, the school renewed its contract with Alex de Souza, and the theme for the carnival competition was “O Som da Cor”. The samba theme was considered by many in the pre-carnival period as one of the best of the year, and it promised to be a success on the day of the parade. However, what we saw on the avenue was a parade far below expectations, with poorly finished floats and costumes. Even with the excellent samba, the school's harmony was not the best, and Vila Isabel only managed to come in tenth place.

After a series of poor results, the school's management decided to take a risk and terminated Alex de Souza's five-year contract. The school hired Paulo Barros, who left Portela after his contract with the other school ended. The two worked together at the same Vila Isabel in 2009, on a plot about the Municipal Theater, but this time the recently crowned carnival champion for the Madureira school will write the 2018 plot alone, but will have the help of Paulo Menezes.