A traditional interpretation of the history of Carnival in Brazil, popularized by Maria Isaura Pereira de Queiroz, divides its evolution into three stages characterized sociologically in terms of the social groups organizing them: the traditional entrudo (a Portuguese-style masked ball characterized by practical jokes) within the family or among families of the same social level, the Venetian Carnival (also known as the bourgeois or grand Carnival), organized by middle-class clubs, and the street Carnival of the lower classes, best known for the bands of revelers known as ranchos, blocos, and escolas de samba. From around 1960 on, some of these various types of Carnival bands from the poorer districts of the cities began to undergo a change in organization. In Rio de Janeiro, some of the top escolas de samba' began to extend membership beyond their own communities to outsiders willing to pay to join. They also began to charge entrance fees for their qualification trials (Goldwasser, 1975: 65-82), pay their dancers and other participants, and regularize their finances. In Salvador (Bahia) at about the same time, the traditional Carnival band was combined with modem musical accompaniment,2 the revelers dancing along with the escola de samba wore costumes designed to show that they had paid for the privilege, and onlookers were roped off from the parade (Mourao, 1987: 13). These "music blocos" used the money earned in this way to hire fashionable pop groups and improve their electrical equipment, producing real mobile shows. With the modernization and increasing sophistication of their music, the commercialization of their activities, and the professionalization of the dancers and singers, Carnival bands have undergone a radical transformation: once community groups occupied with preparing and organizing their own participation in Carnival, they have gradually become commercial participants in the culture industry. This transformation has radically changed the history of lower-class participation in the festivities, creating a clear differentiation between the bands that have undergone modernization,