Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Bright smile, thighs with protruding muscles and body dripping with sweat, Bianca Monteiro follows the dance steps with an impressive virtuosity: it is the queen of Portela, one of the most traditional samba schools of the Rio carnival.

Its official title: "Rainha de Bateria" (queen of the drums). On the night of Sunday to Monday, the first of the two nights of the grand parade, this 31-year-old Brazilian will shine at the sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, in front of almost 70,000 spectators and millions of viewers.

With a sumptuous costume, but kept secret until the last minute, she will parade at the head of a group of 300 percussionists, who are the soul of the samba school.

But to be queen of the carnival, it is not enough to be beautiful and to dance well.

It is a full-time job, with several hours a day of weight training or dancing.

"As a queen, I have to be careful what I eat, even if I still allow myself deviations," she admits, before gobbling up a burger in the middle of a photo shoot.

- Silicone, "without excess" -

To be on top, Bianca uses a team of specialists: a dance teacher, an esthetician (twice a week), a dentist and even an endocrinologist, who prescribes vitamins and pills to help her "lose weight" and gain muscle mass. "

Without counting the plastic surgeon: "I put 300 ml of silicone in my chest last year and I have just added more, I am at 485 ml for each breast," says the thirty-something with a smile.

"As long as it's done without excess, without it becoming sickly, I don't see the problem. The important thing is to stay yourself," she explains.

All this care requires a strong personal investment: "the first two years, I spent more than anything else. I'm only starting to have some financial return now," she says.

Like a beauty queen, Bianca is also a kind of ambassador for her school and earns money through paid events where she gives dance performances in carnival costume or samba lessons.

The trips bring him all over Brazil and even sometimes abroad, as in Japan recently, throughout the year.

- Dream come true -

Nothing predestined this young woman of modest origin to become one of the glamorous icons of the carnival.

In most cases, samba schools choose a famous actress or model as their queen to attract the spotlight. Some seem parachuted to shine only on Carnival day.

Bianca has been bathing in samba since her birth. "When I was still a baby, my father used to take me to Portela rehearsals in the bassinet," reveals the dancer.

"I grew up seeing actresses become queens of samba schools, so I never imagined that a girl in the neighborhood could do the same," she continues.

But Portela decided to bet on a local talent in 2017, by crowning the young woman who had already participated in a dozen parades as a simple dancer.

"It was the realization of a dream. In addition, in my first year, we won the title that the school has been waiting for 33 years," says Bianca Monteiro, who tattooed the chorus of the song on her hip with which Portela was crowned champion.

This did not prevent her from being a victim of racism on social networks. "I'm black, poor and people think I don't deserve to have gotten this far."

But for the inhabitants of Madureira, a popular district in the north of Rio where the school was founded, the fact of having a queen whom they saw growing up is a pride.

"I knew her when I was very young. The neighborhood loves her as if she were her daughter," says Adriana Viana, 47, a long-time member of Portela.

Bianca is a model for Madureira's children, like Isabella, nine, who scrutinizes each of her movements during rehearsals.

"It's great to have a queen who comes from here. I dream of being able to dance like her and to become a queen too."

© 2020 AFP