User:Alberto Lemos/Usuário(a):Alberto Lemos/Escola de samba virtual

Basic concepts
Virtual samba schools are associations that compete with each other in the Virtual Carnival. They appeared in Brazil in 2003 [1] [2] [3], when fans of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival gathered over the internet and created a kind of game where each participant (or group of participants) runs a fictional samba school that plays league championships [1] [3] [4] [5] [6].

Virtual Carnival is a cybercultural manifestation based on translating elements from real parades in a graphic language and the interactivity provided by cyberspace, in virtual communities, and whose primary focus is the annual championship of virtual samba schools. [1] [2] From a socio-anthropological point of view, Virtual Carnival is a legitimate carnival manifestation, a result of changes in cultural practices and lifestyle generated by the Internet, capable of promoting the perpetuation of the carnival itself. It can also be considered an electronic simulation game. [1] [7] [8]

History
The first virtual carnival manifestations appeared in Brazil in the 1990s. The journalistic coverage of the carnival has opened the doors to online debates in forums, email lists, and chat rooms, and at the same time pointed out from the beginning the collective participation by mixing people from different regions of Brazil. [8] [9]

As the domain of digital technologies increased, composers and artists idealized the simulations of parades of samba schools online, with the design of costumes and allegories. The participants then created virtual samba schools and set up a championship that, although inspired by the parade of real samba schools, has its own rules. The term "Virtual Carnival" was presented in a group of friends led by Miguel Paul, who had the idea of creating "parades of samba schools on the computer screen," with drawings and sambas made by themselves. The initial proposals were to kill the nostalgia of the carnival in the middle of the year, and put into practice some of the ideas and projects that were sometimes denied or even inaccessible in the samba school studios. [1] [2] [7]

The first championship took place in 2003, organized by the Independent League of Samba Virtual Schools (LIESV), the first league of the dispute to be formed. Over time, the projects were becoming increasingly complex and gained more sympathizers. With this, tools emerged, the sambas recordings became professionalized, drawings became more and more detailed, and more searched plots. Gradually the parades of the virtual associations have become a laboratory, showcase, and cradle of talents, as singers, samba players, composers, designers, historians, and researchers. [10] [1] [2]

Dynamics
There are no restrictions for participation in the Virtual Carnival. To create a minimum team, users must assume functions of the president, interpreter, and visual artist. Other services are not necessary but frequently required [11].

Throughout the year users debate specific carnival subjects. To watch the parade, users must scroll the mouse on the computer screen or mobile device while listening to the samba broadcasting. The drawings can be done with pencil and paper and then scanned or in graphic design software. The virtual parade recalls the audiovisual presentation of sketches. [1] [2]

Interactivity between users during the parade is granted. There is a speaker who explains the plot of each school. The parade script, with detailed descriptions of the designs and songs, are also available. [12]

The classification of the championship is given by the sum of the marks attributed by a jury in five disciplines: (1) Story plot; (2) Samba lyrics and rhythm; (3) Costumes; (4) Floats; and (5) Set entirety.

Leagues
LIESV is the acronym for the Independent League of Virtual Samba Schools. It carries out its parades since 2003. From dissidents of the LIESV, was created the Virtuafolia League, that is no longer in activity. [7] [2] [14]

In 2016, the Virtual Carnival Community was formed by dissidents of LIESV and remnants of the extinct Virtuafolia, with the mission of acquiring more visibility, seriousness, and professionalism, investing in experimentation with new communication tools, technical judgments, and detailed rules. [10]. The Virtual Carnival community tends to serve as a contemporary way of perpetuating the Brazilian Carnival, without physical boundaries, leading to the cultural identity of the Carnival of the Samba Schools where the Internet can take. [10] [11] [13]. The logo of the Virtual Carnival was created by the designer Jorge Silveira [15].

Facts

 * In 2018 the designer Jorge Silveira developed in the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro the plot "Academicamente Popular," on the 200 years of the founding of the School of Fine Arts of UFRJ, for the São Clemente samba school. It was the first time that the same plot developed in the virtual carnival was adapted later for the real carnival. As stated by himself, in 2012 the plot had already been developed in the virtual parade language. [16] [17]

Results of 2016 Virtual Carnival
Under research.