Glistening with sequins and sweat and shimmying to sultry samba beats, thousands of performers dance their way down a Rio de Janeiro avenue in the Brazilian beach city's famed carnival parades.
With whimsical floats, thundering drum sections and legions of performers in fanciful, flesh-flaunting costumes, 12 samba schools are competing for the coveted title of carnival champions across the two-day extravaganza from February 11 to 12.
One of them, the Salgueiro samba school, pays tribute to the Yanomami Indigenous people.