Carnival Modernities: The clash between traditional and modern in the Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro intersects postulates about modernity and dialogues with carnival theorists to discuss a recurring debate since the first years of the parade. Modernity, here, is not examined according to Eurocentric parameters, but in the specific context of the world of samba, without leaving aside its darkest constituent aspect – coloniality. To observe the issue in the long term, the author divides the history of Samba School parades into three periods: the formation and consolidation of Samba Schools between the 1930s and 1950s; the spectacularization of the years 1960 to 1983; and the corporate hypermodernity from the construction of the Sambadrome to the present day. This study seeks to observe how modernity is reflected in the aesthetic identity of the groups according to the different arts regimes, as well as to understand the transformations in each of the temporal categories that were established in the parades of the Samba Schools in Rio de Janeiro.