Visit at:
Address: Rua Almirante Barroso, 5/6, Duque de Caxias
The Portela samba school was formed as a direct descendent of the group that
was originally formed by Conjunto Oswaldo Cruz in the year 1923. For this
reasons the Portela Samba School advertises itself as being one of the oldest
samba schools in the entire area of Rio de Janeiro. To date it does appear
that this samba school is the oldest though despite opening in 1923 the Portela
name was not registered as a school until 1930.
The colors for the Portela samba school are blue and white with a symbol that has remained the same since the days the school was founded; a giant eagle. This giant eagle shines high in a symbol of honor and pride for those great performers that lead the Portela School into victory.
If the symbol of the honored eagle is any form of luck then it is no surprise that Portela has done so well when attempting to achieve Carnival fame. To date the elegant samba dancers have managed to win an incredible 21 championships during Carnival in representation of this famed school.
Despite the many wins and the Carnival fame the Portela School of samba has
yet to bring home a famed championship for a samba parade since the Sambadrome
was created in 1984. The school performs yearly with many exuberant and well
trained dancers always managing to dazzle a crowd and represent their heritage
regardless of the idea of winning a championship. The samba dances are beautiful
stories that represent the Portela samba school well and as the oldest school
in Rio they continue to represent the honor of samba with pride.
