The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Acadêmicos do Grande Rio is a samba school of the Special Group of the carnival of the city of Rio de Janeiro, being headquartered on Almirante Barroso street in Duque de Caxias. History In the 1950s, the city of Duque de Caxias had an effective participation in the Carioca Carnival, with the samba school Cartolinhas de Caxias. This school was placed among the elite of the schools 3 times (1951, 1958 e 1959), posteriorly placed, and frequently, among the intermediate schools and being well respected in the samba world. The last parade of Cartolinhas was in 1971, when with the goal to found a big school, that would worthily represent the municipality of the directors of Grande Rio and Acadêmicos de Caxias, these two schools unified and created in 1988, the Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Acadêmicos do Grande Rio. The school is very criticized for excessively taking famous people to the avenue and for its excellent results in the judging commission, because of the investments of the patron Jayder Soares and of Milton Perácio, that was the first president of the school. Like mentioned above, Grande Rio has become specially notorious for bringing famous actresses as Queen of the Drums Sections, called "Rainhas de Bateria". Some of these celebrities below were included over the last years: Carnavals of Grande Rio In its debut, in 1989, the school already rose to the next group, passing to the Grupo de Acesso A. In 1990, with the samba-enredo (plot) about the city of Rio de Janeiro, it won second and thus won promoted to the Special Group. When it starred among the big schools, the school did not go well:with the plot Antes, Durante e Depois: o despertar do homem ("Before, During, and After:the rouse of the man"), the school was placed in the 16th collocation, and returnmed to Grupo de Acesso A, despite to count on people such as the singer Dominguinhos do Estácio and the bateria director Mestre Paulão (consecrated in União da Ilha). In 1992, the school reconquered the right to compete in the principal parade, being the champion of the Grupo de Acesso, with the plot Águas Claras para um Rei Negro ("Clear Waters for a Black King"). In its return to the Grupo Especial, with the plot No mundo da lua ("In the world of the moon"), of Alexandre Louzada, the