Carnival: Where are the muses who shone in Rio’s parades and on TV

Beautiful women —many of them, everywhere— have always been important characters in the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, but the school muses, owners of sculptural (and natural) bodies, have inhabited the carnival scene since before the inauguration of the Rio Sambadrome, for 40 years. They are part of the history of the biggest popular festival in the country.

In 1976, Eloína dos Leopardos left for Beija-Flor de Nilópolis, at the invitation of Joãozinho Trinta [1933-2011], enchanting the male audience, who were unaware of their gender identity. “When I appeared on Avenida (Presidente Vargas), the then mayor said I was the most beautiful woman there, and asked who I was; Joãosinho took me to him and said I was a transvestite”, she recalls, now working as a hostess at the Bar by Dona Onça, by award-winning chef Janaína Rueda, also owner of Casa do Porco.

When the school became champion, the secret was revealed. The transsexual, creator of the erotic show Noite dos Leopardos in the 1980s, claims to be a pioneer: “I was drum queen for three years, the first in history”, says Eloína.

Adele Fátima, 69, has had her image associated with Carnival since the 1970s. Appointed as the first drum queen in the following decade, some say that it was the former model and presenter Monique Evans who popularized the position in 1985.

Regardless of who was the precursor in front of the drums, both showed, in addition to their grace, a lot of talent for samba. Evans was queen in several associations between 1985 and 1997, becoming a symbol of the Rio carnival. His last parade took place in 2015 for Mocidade. “I feel something warm today, in the past we entered the avenue and it came down, it really gave me goosebumps, and the last times I went out I didn’t feel that; there are a lot of rules (…) everything has changed a lot, the parades were different in the past” , declared to the F5.

In the year in which the sambadrome completes decades of existence, Adele raises another issue. According to her, her curves inspired the shape of the Apoteosis arch, designed in 1983 by Oscar Niemeyer. [1907–2012]. “I was happy to have recognition from Niemeyer, from Globo, but I think they wait to die, after they die, they value it, pay homage, a statue, to show that they recognized him while he was alive”, she explains.

One of the big stars of the festivities was the former model and businesswoman Luiza Brunet, a unanimous vote. Always applauded by the public, she reigned between 1986 and 1994 in Portela, and then almost two decades as queen in Imperatriz Leopoldinense. She only has good memories.

After a six-year hiatus, Brunet returned to Sapucaí on Portela’s centenary in 2023, wearing a blue costume, where he displayed a red sign against domestic violence. “It was a way as an activist not to show my body in the sense of dancing in a tiny piece or something like that; I decided to cover my body, show the symbol and make my silent protest, and the activism there was very publicized.”

Regarding the reason for the long break, she clarified, “although carnival is my passion, these are phases of life; we have to give space to new people who arrive with innovation, youth and everything else, and I ended up moving away a little “, she says that this year she will watch from the box; and she was full of praise for Paolla Oliveira, Erika Januza and Bianca Monteiro, “they are incredible and they samba great”.

Record holder on Playboy covers (five in total, just like Sheila Carvalho), Luma de Oliveira, 61, is the embodiment of carnival. The debut came in 1987 by Caprichosos de Pilares. In later years she went to several other schools, such as Tradição, Mangueira, Viradouro and Portela, where she paraded for the last time in 2009.

He spent more than 20 years shining on the avenue, almost always ahead of the rhythmists, where he enchanted and collected controversies; such as the controversial parade at Tradição in 1998, when she appeared displaying a collar with the name of Eike (Batista), her then husband at the time. In 2001, she impacted the public again when she knelt on the track to watch the Viradouro drums parade. When contacted by F5, Luma did not return the interview request.

It was good while it lasted

It’s impossible to talk about carnival and not remember ‘Globeleza’ Valéria Valenssa. Between 1993 and 2005, she enchanted the country by dancing samba with a perfect silhouette covered only by glitter in the vignettes shown on Globo. An evangelical for 19 years, she declares that she doesn’t miss any of that. “I don’t miss it, I lived everything intensely, every day I was in one place, sometimes I traveled painted because I didn’t have time to take it off, everything was at the right time.”

Asked about how she reacted when she left the coveted position combined with a diagnosis of depression, she commented: “I knew it wouldn’t be forever, it was a job focused on the body, but I didn’t expect that decision from Globo, my hormones were raging, I already had two children, I was very sensitive.”

She recalls how she overcame the illness. “Depression is silent, it was a very difficult process, my medicine was my children, and it was a moment to get closer to God”, says she, who will soon release a book on beauty secrets at the age of 52.

Long before Valenssa revealed her glittery nudity on TV, writer and actress Enoli Lara, 72, emerged as the first woman to go completely naked in Sapucaí in 1988 in União da Ilha. Covered only by a simple red body paint in reverence for the Flamengo team, the act caused a stir. The following year, the Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (LIESA) banned total nudes in parades.

For 13 consecutive years, model and actress Nana Gouvea, 48, was the drum queen of several schools such as São Clemente, Caprichosos, Império da Tijuca and others. Her last fashion show was in 2009. “I was a queen at a great time, but I didn’t want to overstay.” According to her, at the time she had many professional commitments such as soap operas, theater, and wanted to prioritize them. Living in the United States since 2011, where she has dedicated her career, she hasn’t been following the festivities much. “I have good memories, but I don’t miss it” she explained, over the phone, from New York.

Carnival today, without the magic of the past

From the mid-2000s onwards, the profile of drum queens began to deteriorate, generating reactions that were not always positive from the public regarding the choices of some names in the role. Between bodies sculpted with a scalpel or excessively worked out, harmonized faces and exorbitant costumes; There was often too much joviality and a lack of grace in the feet of some new monarchs in the spotlight in the media.

When asked about this transition, some experienced beauties responded. “I think there is space for what carnival represents: girls from the community with all their strength, charm, and there are other women who really sometimes only go out at carnival, then change schools, don’t have that commitment”, he says Brunet.

Monique Evans also expressed her point of view. “Bridesmaids are so beautiful that we no longer know the standard of beauty, there’s nothing to fix, you know? Lots of muscles, lots of ass, in my time you worked out to look beautiful, but it was a natural thing.” Adele criticizes the current carnival without naming names. “They’re having a decadent carnival, where women expose themselves in such a way that it ends up spilling over onto others too; I’ve always taken samba seriously, like the girls at the time too, but now it’s become a business, whoever pays the most does what they want” , vent.

Almost all of them showed nostalgia for the carnival of other times. “Today the parades are different, with big boxes, with shows, in the past people went to see the parade; now they go to eat, (…) be photographed”, reflects Monique, who this year will marry DJ Cacá Werneck . Valenssa remembers: “I’m from the time when there was all this magic, street carnival, they set up grandstands, today it has become the biggest spectacle for the world, but changes are always welcome.”

Brunet recalls what rehearsals were like when she was queen, drawing a parallel between before and after. “We used to go simpler, sometimes in shorts and jeans, never as if we were going to parade, today I see that that has changed a lot, I’m impressed how bridesmaids invest in costumes that could be worn on the day of the parade, because there is a dispute over visibility “.

She also comments on the competition between the beauties, “it’s a competition between women, which sometimes even scares me a little, I’ve seen godmothers changing their costumes twice; it’s really become a position where there’s a lot of fierce competition” she says.