Carnaval in Brazil 2010 (IV) - Photos from Rio on the First Night

I may have more later today or tomorrow, but the first night of the official Carnaval parades in Rio occurred last night. Here are photos from the parades of the samba schools of Salgueiro, Beija-Flor, Viradouro, Imperatriz Leopoldense, União da Ilha, and Unidos da Tijuca. As you can see, the parades themselves are much more than scanitly clad women, with remarkably complex floats and impeccable choreography (though the pictures have a harder time conveying that).

And for those who are interested, each samba school has its own song each year. For the first time, you can hear those songs by clicking the "play" button near the top of each school's page (União da Ilha, Imperatriz, Unidos da Tijuca, Viradouro, Salgueiro, and Beija-Flor).