communicate design ideas in different ways, bearing in mind aesthetic qualities and the use and purpose for which the product is intended
use information from a number of sources, including ICT
measure, mark out, cut and shape materials
assemble, join and combine components and materials accurately
apply appropriate finishing techniques
design and make assignments using textiles

Tamires and Michael are two Brazilian kids who just love to dance. They practise samba moves together whenever they can. Even though they're still very young, they make great dancing partners. They try out the steps they see in old photos of parades and dancing competitions.

They are part of a samba school in their district, or favela, of Rio de Janeiro. Here, people say samba is not a matter of life or death – it's far more important than that! The schools are big groups of people who compete to put on the best show they can at Carnival, when the dancers fill the streets and the air throbs with the samba beat. Tamires and Michael practise in the back yard. Tamires even dances with a broom as she does the chores. And there's always a friend or relative around to give them some tips.

Once a year, everyone in Rio turns out for the big samba competition. It takes 2 days for all the samba schools to perform. Tamires and Michael dream that their school will win. Maybe, just maybe, this will be their year.

Curriculum Relevance

PE – dance activities
Music – explore and express ideas and feelings about music using movement and dance
Art – design and make images and artefacts
Maths – measurement and symmetry

Background

There are many different samba schools in Rio. These aren't buildings with teachers in them – a school is the name given to a club of people who get together to put on a show for Carnival. Some people build the huge Carnival floats, covered with bright lights and fantastic scenery, which will be pulled through the crowded streets by trucks and tractors. The most spectacular floats blow bubbles, smoke, or even perfume over the heads of the watching crowd.

Other members of the school are in the bateria, or rhythm section. They will march alongside their float, playing all kinds of instruments to provide the samba beat. Tamires and Michael are sambistas. They will dance the samba steps in front of the float and wave flags showing their school's logo.

Fourteen samba schools are chosen to dance in the final part of the competition which takes place at a special stadium – the Sambadrome. It was built in 1983 by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Sambadrome is a concrete runway 2 kilometres long, lined with grandstands that can hold over 58,000 spectators. It finishes under a huge three-legged arch, where the sambistas parade to be judged. Follow the links from this site to see what it's like.

Activities

Make Up Your Own Dance

You will need: pictures of dancers; samba music, or other dance music you like; paper and pencil; sticks of chalk; strong plastic bag.

Do some research. You could follow the links from this site to find pictures of dancers and music clips. Try the movements you see in the pictures, until you get around six different poses you like. Listen carefully to your chosen music to make sure the movements will suit it.
Draw a comic strip to show how your six movements could be linked together.
Act out your comic strip in slow motion. Limit yourself to around 12 footsteps to take you between the different positions.
If you find it hard to remember all the steps you've used, trace them in chalk. Put two or three sticks of chalk in a bag and crumble them to dust.
Find an area of dry concrete outside, such as the corner of a playground. Pour some of your chalk into a small pile on the ground and stand in it, until the soles of your shoes are covered with dust. (Keep the bag of chalk powder – you'll need it for the next two activities.)
Now carefully walk through your different moves.
Sketch the chalky footprints you have made.
Practise your steps at a slow speed until you can repeat them easily.
Try out your steps to the music!

Make a Dance Mat

Dance mats help people learn complicated steps. You'll need the comic strip and footprint sketch from Make Up Your Own Dance. You will also need: 2m roll of strong brown paper; 2 sheets of thin card; 2m roll of clear plastic contact film; bag of chalk powder; scissors; ruler; paints and brushes.

Take your shoes off. Put each shoe on a sheet of card and draw round it. Now cut out the shoe shapes. Remember to label them 'left' and 'right'. You have made some templates to use later.
Unroll the brown paper. With your shoes back on, walk through the different steps of your dance on the paper. Put a little chalk powder on the soles of your shoes and try the steps again. You should leave a powdery trail on the brown paper.
Use your card templates and a pencil to trace over the powder marks with strong outlines. You should now have a set of clear footmarks.
Number each footmark to show the order of the steps.
Paint inside all the right footmarks with a single colour. If you only use your heel or toe for a step, just colour that part of the footmark.
Now paint inside the left footmarks with a different colour.
Outline all the footmarks in black paint. Let them dry.
Cover the brown paper with clear plastic contact film. Peel off 1cm of the backing paper from the film and stick it to the edge of the brown paper. Unroll the rest of the film, taking off a little backing paper at a time. Use a ruler to smooth the film onto the brown paper and squeeze out any air bubbles.
Now anyone can use the mat to follow in your footsteps and learn your dance moves.
What will you call your new dance?

Make a Dance School Logo

You've made up your own dance and designed a dance mat, maybe you should start your own dance school. But first, you'll need a logo. If you can, watch Tamires and Michael Go To Samba School again. You should be able to spot the badge of their samba school – it's on the flags, the tambourines, the T-shirts… everywhere.

You will need: graph paper with 1cm squares; colouring pens or pencils; bag of chalk powder; square of felt about 12cm by 12cm; embroidery needle; pins; embroidery thread in a contrasting colour to your square of felt; cardboard folder; ruler; scissors.

Draw a 12cm by 12cm square on the graph paper.
Sketch your logo idea inside the square. Make simple outlines that are easy to see (you could try animal, bird, flower or star shapes). Most logos are symmetrical, so use the squares on the paper to make sure your logo shows strong symmetry too.
Take a pin and make tiny holes along the outlines of your paper design.
Pin your paper design to the felt square.
Make plenty of pinholes in the bag of chalk powder.
Dab the powder bag all over your paper design, until it is well dusted with chalk.
When you take the graph paper off the felt, your design will be outlined where the chalk dust has come through the pinholes.
Thread the embroidery needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
Working from the back of the felt square, follow the chalk line with tiny stitches. Aim to make all your stitches exactly the same size.
Keep the stitches close together, so they make an unbroken outline.
It takes a long time to finish this embroidery, as you have to work very carefully. Store your felt square in a folder when you need to take a break.

Links

This web page contains links to other websites that are neither controlled nor maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Watch a video clip of the Rio Carnival:
http://www.whatsonwhen.com/video/

A map and seating plan of the Sambadrome:
www.destinationrio.com/events/sambamap.htm

See live camera shots of Rio:
www.iis.com.br/~mbotelho/

Some photos of the Sambadrome:
www.lume.com.br/Eng/Articles/a_new_carnival.htm

Samba sampler, with music clips you can download:
www.worldsamba.org/index.html

Some more samba tracks to try:
www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucahcjm/barravento/listen.html

Making It: Programmes 16–26 Programme 21: Tamires and Michael Go to Samba School

Aims

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