in the 1940's many efforts were made to raise the bar in their carnival parades performances - in fact, with this strong motivation, portela managed to be the champion for seven years in a row, between 1941 and 1947.  

this trend would continue in the 1950s and the 1960s, with the school managing to overcome its adversaries for several years in a row, earning the reputation as the best among the samba schools.

yet, things were about to change, and in the 1970s the opposition was becoming better and more diverse.