originally a block organized to make parades in the carnival festivities, the g. r. e. s. mocidade independente do padre miguel (padre miguel's independent youth) is currently considered one the most traditional samba schools in rio de janeiro.

the term 'mocidade' means 'group of young people', and padre miguel is the name of the neighborhood where this group concentrated its activities.

the school was born in the 1950s from a soccer club - the players also happened to be excellent percussionists, and because of this, the leadership decided to turn their attentions to the carnival festivities, and to parade in the neighborhood during carnival times.

said carnival parade resulted in a draw, and in order to resolve the draw between the two top performers the organizers had to come up with a creative solution.