Young rhythm artists had secret rehearsals with Madonna in a hotel and talk about the diva: ‘Dance, kiss and hug’

Upon learning that they were being invited to play on stage with Madonna, the vast majority of the 20 young rhythmists who will perform a number with the diva had the same impression. “When my father told me, I was leaving school. I thought it was a prank”, says Miguel Rômulo, 13, who is the director of Mangueira do Tomorrow and a member of the Mangueira drumline.

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Miguel is part of the group handpicked to rock part of Madonna’s show this Saturday, the 4th, at Copacabana Beach in the most Brazilian rhythm possible. It was supposed to be a secret, but the news leaked and on Thursday night, they were already accompanying the singer on her first stage rehearsal in Rio.

Anyone who thinks, however, is mistaken that this was the boys’ first rehearsal with the queen of pop. None of that. “We spent the whole week rehearsing with her at the hotel”, reveals Lucas Pietro, 15 years old, also from Mangueira. In the show, he will play the tambourine, his main instrument.

He says that rehearsing with the singer is much more difficult than rehearsing to get a 10 on Avenida. “It’s just that if something goes wrong, we have to go back and start all over again,” he says, continuing to pinch himself to find out whether the dream is real or not: “For someone who lives in a community like me, they’ve never had for playing with a star of this size, even more international”.

Lucas Bola, rhythmist from Grande Rio, woke up famous this Friday, the 3rd. The 12-year-old boy appeared in all the videos in which Madonna and Pabllo Vittar interacted during the rehearsal, playing his peal. “The feeling is inexplicable, being there, at a show for so many people. It’s really indescribable”, the teenager is still surprised, who had never heard a song by the queen of pop: “I confess that I didn’t know it, but I thought it was really cool”.

Lucas Bola’s mother, Vanessa Martins, has been accompanying her son during the marathon rehearsals behind closed doors at the Copacabana Palace. And at no point did she manage to see the singer. “Only the children saw her, we were waiting in another room”, she says, who had no idea being at the show: “I won’t say I’m a fan, but I like some of her songs. Now I’ll be able to watch the show and be right there next to my son.”

During the sound check, Madonna surprised everyone by wearing a mask that covered her face. Many people even doubted it was her there. With the Cariocas representing the cream of Carnival, however, she appeared with a clean face. “She arrived, greeted everyone in that language that we don’t understand at all, and she wasn’t wearing a mask”, says Samuel Rodrigues, 13 years old, from Imperatriz Leopoldinense, who will play the snare drum instead of the peal, his instrument.

Contrary to what has been said, with the boys, they guarantee, Madonna is pure likability juice. “She played instruments with us, talked, hugged, kissed”, describes Miguel Rômulo.

With the time of the show approaching, anxiety takes over this troop led by Pretinho d Serrinha, and who don’t even know exactly how they ended up at the “Escola de Samba Unidos de Madonna” until now: “Now it’s starting to give me butterflies to face all those people on stage. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone”, says Samuel, who would like to recommend the samba song by Imperatriz, from 2011, to the singer, “Sambar is good for your health”. We bet she knows, Samuel!