Rio Carnival 2027!
The Special Group
parades run
February 7–9.
The Champions
Parade
follows February 13!

I'm Yara Vento,
your dancing guide.
But before the
drums begin…

Who am I?

I don't know.

Yara Vento is the
name I chose. My
story begins with
the sea.

My oldest memory:
waking on
Copacabana sand.
They told me
I'd nearly drowned.

No name.
No past.
Just this
emerald necklace.

You have
memory
loss, Yara. Current
medicine can't
reliably restore the
missing memories.
I can't promise
a cure—but
I'll help you.

Have we
met before?

This is our
first appointment.
You don't have to face
this alone.

Wait. I know this
step. And that
turn. And the
rhythm!

My body remembers
samba. My heart
can't remember why.

Then I learned
another dance. And
another.

A doorway. A laugh.
Someone counting
time… Little
pieces began
coming back.

For Yara, dance
became a doorway to
fragments—not a
guaranteed cure.

Sir Dono? They say
you carry the
stories inside
the dances.

Dances belong to
people, Yara.
We listen to them
before we learn
their steps.

May I join your
folklore journey?
I want a mentor
for my life—
not just my feet.

Then come. We'll
learn from the
people who keep each
tradition alive.

Maybe I'll find 
my past.
And someone
worth becoming.

In Yara's journey:
a prize-winning triumph
at the Prix de Lausanne,
Switzerland.

Have we
met before?

The host smiled:
“Not before tonight.
Congratulations,
Yara.”

I couldn't recover
every yesterday.
But I could earn a
tomorrow.

Another milestone:
Yara wins gold at the
Varna International Ballet
Competition, Bulgaria.

Have we
met before?

This host laughed gently:
“Our first meeting—
and quite an entrance.”

Remember
this, Yara: your
worth was never
waiting inside a
medal.

Then came a new job:
choreographing for
Jacksy and Zade!

Jacksy… have
we met before?

Yes! And 
apparently
my left foot hasn't
met my right foot.

You've got
this, Jaxy.

Zade, that's
perfect.
Jacksy,
let's slow
it down.

Sometimes I even
joined them as a
backing dancer!

Yara! Does
this
routine have
an easy
setting?

Looking good,
Jacksie.

Zade learns it
flawlessly.
Jacksy gives it a
plot twist.

Now—back to Rio! In 2026,
Unidos do Viradouro
won the Special
Group with 270 points.

Their parade, “Pra Cima,
Ciça!”, celebrated their
legendary percussion
leader, Mestre Ciça.

Beija-Flor finished
second and Vila
Isabel third—both on
269.9 points.
The Harmonia tiebreak
put Beija-Flor ahead.

Salgueiro,
Imperatriz and
Mangueira completed
the top six. What
a Champions Parade!

For 2027, save
February 7, 8 and 9
for the Special
Group parades at the
Sambadrome.

Expect towering
floats, powerful
drum sections and
samba-enredo—the
song that carries
each school's story.

These are competing
samba schools:
whole communities
creating one moving
spectacle.

Beyond the
Sambadrome, blocos
bring the celebration
into Rio's streets.

On February 13, the
top schools return
for the Champions
Parade.

Check LIESA and
Rio's official
channels for final
schedules and ticket
details. The 2027
results? Those are
still waiting to be
danced.

I still don't know
who gave me this
necklace.

But I don't have to
wait for every
memory to 
become myself.

The tide took my
yesterdays.
The dance floor
gives them back.

See you in Rio.
I'm Yara Vento.