With flicks of the wrist, Rio Carnival's drum maestros keep everyone locked in on the beat

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — At a classical orchestra, a conductor’s raised hands often means the start of a performance. Tracing shapes in the air could point to how each beat must come. And one’s free fingers can often signal a shift in dynamics.

Subtle hand signs likewise coordinate the hundreds of pounding drummers in each of the glitzy Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro.

The roughly 70,000 spectators filling the bleachers each of the three nights of parades will be eager to see flamboyant costumes, towering floats and jaw-dropping dancers passing by. But for many samba fanatics, drums are the beating heart of the party. And the maestro’s hand swings, flicks, twists and pointing transform potential cacophony into transcendent synchrony.

Percussionists play instruments known the world over — snare and bass drums — but also traditional local instruments like the tamborim hand drum, the cuica friction drum, the double-sided repique, metal shakers known as chocalhos and the agogo, a two-headed cowbell originating in West Africa.

The Mocidade Independente samba school, one of Rio’s most popular, has 240 drummers in its section.

Based in the working-class Vila Vintem community, on the city’s west side, Mocidade is known for its trained drummers and legendary drum masters, like José Pereira da Silva, nicknamed “Mestre André.” Six decades ago, he created the “little stop,” a percussion break during the parade while revelers continue singing. The technique is used to highlight key parts of a samba school’s lyrics.

“I can say that the drum section really is an orchestra, it’s greater than an orchestra, because all the people there are musicians, people who studied. Not in a samba drum section; they’re drummers,” said Carlos Eduardo Oliveira, Mocidade’s drum master for 14 years, known as “Mestre Dudu.”

Mestre Dudu signals to drum directors spread throughout the section, who relay commands to the drummers while making sure they are toggling seamlessly between the many grooves that make up a Carnival parade theme song.

“We understand each other. That’s our language. I have 16 directors in the middle of the section, in the core. I raise my hand, give a signal that will be repeated through them all. And the rhythmist understands,” Mestre Dudu said.

While some less traditional schools accept tourists into their drums sections, Mocidade only allows locals. They were the first school to parade in the Sambadrome on Tuesday night, the final evening of Carnival.

Romualdo Gomes, a professional musician, drums for Mocidade out of love, like all his companions. But he never loses sight of the nearest director guiding the beat.

“You just pay attention to the director,” Gomes said. “You have to pay attention — there’s a way to show every groove.”

The drum section plays throughout a school’s entire parade, lasting between 70 and 80 minutes, striving to lose neither tempo nor flair. Carnival judges score parades on a 10-point scale for various categories, including drumming; it is assessed based on creativity, consistency and how well it suits each samba school’s theme and lyrics.

“Only God knows if we will win the title, but once again our drummers delivered a great performance,” an exhausted Mestre Dudu, covered in sweat, told journalists after Mocidade’s parade. The school’s drummers, who had flashing green lights on their hats, celebrated as if Mocidade had already won its 7th title in Rio’s Carnival parade league.

Classical music critic Irineu Franco Perpétuo said that artists like Mestre Dudu are indeed maestros, no less talented than those guiding orchestras. He noted that the drums section is the tiebreaking category whenever two samba schools have tallied the same total number of points.

“They are the conductors of this great popular opera that is our Carnival,” Perpétuo said. “They have the great challenge of being rhythmically constant during the parade. They can’t rush it, they can’t be too late. And they need to keep everyone playing at the same time.”

“A perfect 10 for the drum section carries as much weight as a Vienna Philharmonic in classical music,” he added.

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Drum queen Fabiola de Andrade from the Mocidade samba school smiles during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

The drum director from the Mocidade samba school gestures during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Drum queen Fabiola de Andrade from the Mocidade samba school performs during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A performer from the Mocidade samba school dances on a float during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A performer from the Mocidade samba school dances during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A performer from the Mocidade samba school directs a float alongside artificial intelligence images of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Performers from the Mocidade samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Performers from the Mocidade samba school look out from a float during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Drum queen Fabiola de Andrade from the Mocidade samba school smiles during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Drum queen Erika Januza, from the Viradouro samba school, performs during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Performers from the Unidos de Padre Miguel samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Fans cheer during the Viradouro samba school parade, during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Performers from the Salgueiro samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Performers from the Salgueiro samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Drum queen Lorena Raissa from Beija-Flor samba school performs during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Musicians from the Beija-Flor samba school perform during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

After nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, it’s expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.

It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it’s also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.

The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less — a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.

The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.

“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.

Star Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.

Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker’s relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters. The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.

“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It’s expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).

The mix of movies this year didn’t hold a candle to last year’s record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year’s $330 million. It’s also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.

Jon Favreau arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The character Grogu arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)