RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Rayane Cadette dos Santos has the swing and the so-called “samba no pé” (samba on foot).

Once, during a rehearsal of Beija-Flor Samba School, her talent impressed the drummers, so she was invited to become one of the samba school’s dancers.

Recently, Rayane conquered her first job, and, thanks to her samba skills, she was hired as a dancer for the TV show “Esquenta!,” which airs Sundays on TV Globo, the country’s largest broadcast network.

“Rayane has already been asked many times to parade for other samba schools, but she doesn’t want to leave Beija-Flor,” says her mother, Marilene de Albuquerque.

Rayane’s journey wouldn’t be uncommon, except for one detail: She is 6.

For three years, Rayane has attended the Escolinha da Beija-Flor, a school that trains dancers (passistas, in Portuguese), porta-bandeiras (the women bearing the samba school flag) and mestres-salas (the samba school hosts who pay court to the flag bearer).

Beija-Flor is in Nilópolis, one of the 14 cities forming the Baixada Fluminense, a violent and poor region of Rio de Janeiro state.

Created 10 years ago, the Escolinha da Beija-Flor teaches samba free of charge to those between the ages of 3 and 17, with most residing in Nilópolis.

Community’s Disneyland

“This is their Disneyland,” says the samba school coach Selminha Sorriso, 40, who has been performing as a flag bearer for 23 years, including 16 for Beija-Flor.

In Brazil, the devotion to samba schools is similar to the passion for soccer teams. And, like an old slogan of Flamengo, a popular team in Rio, “a star is made at home.”

A 12-time winner of the Rio’s Carnival parade, Beija-Flor always features in its most desired position – the drum queen – a person from the community, while other schools give the honor to an actress, a model or a celebrity.

The Beija-Flor samba school’s drum queen is Raíssa de Oliveira, 21, who was crowned when she was only 12. Before taking on the role, Raíssa paraded in the Beija-Flor’s children’s section for four years.

“We want our children to replace the schools’ members in the future,” Selminha says. “But the initiative also helps to develop their discipline and citizenship, besides promoting social inclusion.”

Teachers, psychologists and social workers

Selminha and another samba coach, Claudinho, who are assisted by psychologists and social workers, form beija-Flor children’s school’s team. Selminha said team members must perform well academically.

The school offers special activities for mentally or physically disabled children.

“Some of them need to take medicines, but after they enter the school, they get so much better that their medication can be reduced,” Selminha says.

Bejia-Flor offers four-hour classes on Saturdays year round that are attended by 100 to 200 children.

“When I was 4, I saw Ms. Selminha at the Carnival and I wanted to be like her,” says Naira Rufino Silva, 8.

Emanuele Martins de Oliveira, 14, says she has been training at the samba school since she was 7 to follow Selminha’s career.

“She says I’ll be her successor,” says Emanuele, who has paraded two times for Beija-Flor as a third flag bearer.

The couple of mestre-sala and porta-bandeira is one of the ten categories assessed in the Sambadrome Carnival, the country’s most famous parade.

Each school has 5,000 members

The Grupo Especial, Rio’s main samba school group, has 12 samba schools, each of which has 5,000 members. They parade at Sambadrome, along Sapucaí Avenue, a purpose-built Carnival area in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

A group of 50 jurors is divided into ten groups to analyze each category and give points according to their performance.

Samba schools can take two to three couples of porta-bandeira and mestre-sala to the avenue, but only the first is judged.

The competition, in which judges deduct points for mistakes, was won by Beija-Flor in 2011.

Organized by poor communities

Following the Carnival that takes place Feb. 18-22 this year, the samba schools start to plan their next performance. Poor communities from Rio’s outskirts, where the samba schools were born, organize the parade.

“Parading is the strongest emotion,” says trainee Thuan Matheus Silva Moraes, 13. “I cry a lot when the school doesn’t win the championship.”

Children dance at Escolinha da Beija-Flor. (Renzo Gostoli/Austral Foto for Infosurhoy.com)

The samba tradition crosses generations.

“Beija-Flor is the school of my heart,” says Hugo Bonifácio de Almeida, 12. “My mother was one of the school’s first flag bearers.”

On Hugo’s side, Pedro Henrique Ribeiro, 11, doesn’t want to fall behind. “My uncle and my godfather were dancers at the school.”

Mestre Dionísio: School at the Sambadrome

Another Brazilian who uses his talent to train new samba stars is legendary mestre-sala Manoel Dionísio, a 75-year-old who has 54 years’ experience with Carnival. His School for Mestres-Salas, Porta-Bandeiras and Porta-Estandartes (which carries the street Carnival groups’ flag) was founded 21 years ago in the Street Carnival Groups Federation’s headquarters, in downtown Rio.

Over the years, the area has become too small for the growing demand. Mestre Dionísio’s school was transferred to the Sambadrome.

Now, it’s temporarily closed because it’s under construction.

“When I created the school, there weren’t new people for those positions, and the samba schools and street carnival groups were lacking replacements,” he says. “Then, they began to send children so they could be prepared to take on those roles.”

The schools continue sending aspiring samba dancers to Mestre Dionísio, but the place also attracts those interested in entering the samba world. Representatives of Carnival associations also visit the school to find new talent.

“Many mestres-salas and porta-bandeiras from Rio’s most important samba schools, including Salgueiro, Mangueira, Portela and Mocidade, were born here,” he says.

The classes are free-of-charge and take place on Saturdays. Currently, there are 356 participants, according to Mestre Dionísio.

In addition to the classes for children, there are ones for adults, disabled children and seniors.

The school has 10 coaches, two psychologists, a schoolteacher and an orthopedist.

“The classes help to improve the trainees’ welfare and socialization,” Dionísio said.

Mestre Dionísio has already exported his method to seven Brazilian states. The groups interested in establishing a samba school like his go through a 15-day intensive training with Rio’s team.

Every three months, Mestre Dionísio’s coaches visit those sites to offer assistance.