Dybvik

Imperatriz Leopoldinense presents the theme "Do you want codfish?" for the 2007 Carnival competition at a big party in Canecão

Norway, the land of gods and demons, such as Odin and Thor, trolls and elves. The Vikings departed from this world of luxuriant nature and rich mythology to conquer new lands. Characters that gave rise to amazing stories, the Vikings disseminated the habit of eating that fish, which, upon being salted, became worldwide known as codfish. Enjoyed by several peoples with its unique taste and preservation capacity, the Codfish arrived in Brazil, achieved its place of honor at the Brazilians' table, and ended up on TV in the hands of Chacrinha, one of the most important TV show presenters of the Country.

This is the core of the plot that Rio de Janeiro's traditional school of samba Imperatriz Leopoldinense, nine times champion, takes to Marquês de Sapucaí to fight for next year's championship, and tonight it presents, at the presentation party of Carnival Designers and Enredos (the themes) for the 2007 Carnival, from 9 pm, at Canecão.

- It is a great honor to see the Norwegian Codfish receiving such homage by a school of samba as important as Imperatriz Leopoldinense. It is very important for us to participate of the Country's most important celebration and we take this opportunity to tell how the codfish, one of our biggest assets, became a worldwide appreciated product – says Kari Gulbrandsen, head of the Norwegian Fishing Council in Brazil.

To deepen in the history of codfish, the carnival designer Rosa Magalhães traveled to Norway and spent a week visiting the cities of Oslo, Tromsø and Ålesund. Rosa visited factories, where she personally learned about the salting and drying process of the fish species that are known as codfish, as well as museums and the large aquarium of Ålesund (a city considered as the world capital of codfish).

- The trip was enriching and fundamental, so that I could develop a very consistent and well-knit theme. I saw the live fish, in the Aquarium of Ålesund, and visited the codfish and Vikings museums. The thing that most impressed me was learning how codfish used to be caught in the 19th century, when the men went to sea and the women stayed onshore cleaning and preparing the fish, which was then salted and dried. And the whole job used to be made under the most adverse conditions – says Rosa Magalhães.

With the information gathered during the trip, Rosa prepared the base story that was delivered to composers and also used for her to design all fancy costumes of the school of samba. – I intend to start the parade showing Norway and the Vikings, their trips across cold seas in search for new achievements and discoveries. They did not know how to preserve the foods until the discovery of salt. However, one of the distinguished characters will be Chacrinha, the TV presenter that eternized the sentence 'Who wants codfish?', playing jokes with the public and throwing fish at the audience. I am very excited with this theme and am sure that we will prepare a wonderful and amazing parade – she says.

Norwegian Codfish

Much appreciated by Brazilians, the Norwegian dried and salted codfish started to be officially imported by Brazil in 1843. Original from the cold and clear waters of the seas around the North Pole, the codfish was produced only from one fish specie: the Cod Gadus morhua. Thanks to a continually improved process, many years ago the fishing industry of Norway discovered that there are other four species of fish suitable for the production of codfish. All of them belong to the family of Cod gadus morhua, but each of them keeps its own characteristics. They are: Cod Gadus macrocephalus, fishes such as Saithe, Ling and Zarbo codfishes.

Norwegian Fishing Council

In order to take care of the marketing of the products from the Norwegian sea, the Fishing Ministry created the Norwegian Fishing Council, in July 1991. The entity is responsible for the marketing of these products, but, although it is a part of the ministry, its activities are founded by the fishing industry. CNP provides information and makes marketing campaigns to the fishing industry and the fish farming in Norway, both in the foreign and the internal market, thus, supporting the commercialization efforts. The Council is headquartered in Tromsø, on the Norwegian coast, and it has agency offices in Germany, Brazil, China, Spain, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Russia.

Imperatriz Leopoldinense

It was at a simple meeting in a house in Ramos, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro that one of the most traditional and successful schools of samba of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival was created: Imperatriz Leopoldinense. Nine times champion, for there consecutive times (1999, 2000 and 2001), the school has walked a path of many achievements. Most of its success is due to the talent and creativity of Rosa Magalhães, the carnival designer of that samba school for 15. In March 1959, the school was founded by a group of samba musicians of the district of Leopoldina, whose purpose was that of gathering together all small associations and Carnival groups of the region, transforming them into a large school of samba and also that such school of samba played an active social and cultural role. The colors of Imperatriz are green and white. The flag shows a transversal green band that crosses the white background. It shows the 12 stars representing the union of the districts of Ramos, São Cristóvão, Triagem, Manguinhos, Bonsucesso, Olaria, Penha, Penha Circular, Brás de Pina, Cordovil, Parada de Lucas and Vigário Geral. It also shows a crown representing the First Kingdom Period, a time when Imperatriz Leopoldina was the queen.

Rosa Magalhães

Rosa Magalhães is a teacher, a plastic artist, a designer, a scenographer and a carnival designer. She first started working in carnival 1971, for Salgueiro, together with one of the most important carnival designers of the Country, Joãozinho Trinta. In the subsequent years, she participated in the creation of costumes to Beija-Flor and Portela. In 1982, she was responsible for the champion parade of Império Serrano. In 1984, with Imperatriz Leopoldinense, she received the Golden Flag ("Estandarte de Ouro") as Personality of the Year, an award granted by the newspaper "O Globo" to people who are distinguished in Carnival. In 1987 and 1988, she was the carnival designer of Estácio de Sá, and, in the two subsequent years, of Salgueiro. She has been the carnival designer of Imperatriz Leopoldinense since 1992.