Márcia Leal de Souza Lage (27 February 1960 – 19 January 2025) was a Brazilian set designer and carnival organizer at the Rio Carnival who worked for a large part of her career with her husband, fellow organizer Renato Lage.
Biography Lage was born in Rio de Janeiro on 27 February 1960. She studied at the Escola de Belas Artes, where she was a student of great carnival organizers such as Fernando Pamplona, , Marie Louise Nery and Rosa Magalhães. In 1981, Márcia was invited by Rosa to work as an assistant in the historical carnival bloc Bum Bum Paticumbum Prugurundum (1982). She was also an assistant in Salgueiro and in Tradição. Márcia also worked as a set designer for television before meeting Renato Lage and beginning to work as his assistant in 1990. In 1992, Renato separated from his then-wife Lilian Rabello, with whom he took part in the carnival blocs of Mocidade and began a romance with Márcia. Afterwards, the two married. Despite performing with Renato since the start of the 1990s, Márcia only began to officially work with the carnival blocs since the 2002 Rio Carnival, her last year at Mocidade. In 2003, the couple moved to Salgueiro. In 2007, they took part in the carnival commission created by Império de Casa Verde. They won the A Access Group of Rio in the 2008 with the enredo Taí, eu fiz tudo pra você gostar de mim, by Império Serrano.
With the accession of the Império Serrano to the Grupo Especial at the 2009 carnival, the Lages could not participate with two samba schools in the same tier, and for the first time, Márcia signed with Império Serrano alone, while Renato stayed with Salgueiro. Império was demoted again, while Salgueiro, 18 years after their big success with “Peguei um Ita no Norte”, won the title. The following carnival, Márcia was about to be hired as a carnival organizer for Mangueira, but was let go by the school. She would return to be a duo with her husband in Salgueiro. She made carnival blocs with Vai Vai in 2016 and stayed with Salgueiro in 2017. In 2018, the couple left for Grande Rio, however, as the school had an enredo about Chacrinha, the school had problems, being the most well-known school to not enter the last float. Despite being demoted, LIESA simply decided that, for the second time, there would be no demotions from the Grupo Especial, which was controversial at the time. At the 2019 carnival with Grande Rio, the enredo Quem Nunca was made, making an allusion to the "Brazilian jeitinho for solving things" which was seen as a criticism of the turnaround of the decision the year prior. In 2020, 2022, and 2023, the Lages signed with Portela. The three blocs were not as successful, being that the enredo about the 100-year anniversary of Portela in 2023 ended with serious issues in its finishing, the understanding of the enredo, and a hole in one of the sections of the bloc. The school was embittered by being placed in one of the lowest places. In 2024, the couple "rested" from their careers, and just started to only watch the blocs. However, the couple began to return to their careers and had planned to make a return after 23 years to Mocidade.
Death Lage died on 19 January 2025 at 64 years old, the victim of leukemia. She was veiled and cremated at the Cemitério Vertical Memorial do Carmo, in Caju in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro.
Carnivals Below is the list of carnival blocs done by Lage. YearSchoolPlaceDivisionEnredo2002Mocidade Independente4th placeEspecial RJO Grande Circo Místico2003Salgueiro7th placeEspecial RJSalgueiro, minha paixão, minha raiz - 50 anos de glórias2004Salgueiro6th placeEspecial RJA cana que aqui se planta, tudo dá, até energia… Álcool, o combustível do futuro2005Salgueiro5th placeEspecial RJDo fogo que ilumina a vida, Salgueiro é chama que não se apaga2006Salgueiro11th placeEspecial RJMicrocosmos: o que os olhos não veem, o coração sente2007Salgueiro7th placeEspecial RJCandacesImpério de Casa Verde5th placeEspecial SPGlórias e Conquistas - A Força do Império está no salto do Tigre2008SalgueiroVice-cEspecial RJO Rio de Janeiro continua sendo…Império SerranoChampionGrupo ATaí, eu fiz tudo para você gostar de mim2009Império Serrano12th placeEspecial RJA Lenda das Sereias e os Mistérios do Mar2011Salgueiro5th placeEspecial RJSalgueiro Apresenta: o Rio no Cinema2012SalgueiroVice-championEspecial RJCordel branco e encarnado2013Salgueiro5th placeEspecial RJFama2014SalgueiroVice-championEspecial RJGaia - A vida em nossas mãos2015SalgueiroVice-championEspecial RJDo Fundo do Quintal, Saberes e Sabores na Sapucaí2016Salgueiro4th placeEspecial RJA Ópera dos MalandrosVai-Vai4th placeEspecial SPJe Suis Vai-Vai2017Salgueiro3rd placeEspecial RJA Divina Comédia Do Carnaval2018Grande Rio12th placeEspecial RJVai para o trono ou não vai?2019Grande Rio9th placeEspecial RJQuem nunca...? Que atire a primeira pedra2020Portela7th placeEspecial RJGuajupiá, Terra sem Males2022Portela5th placeEspecial RJIgi Osè Baobá2023Portela10th placeEspecial RJO Azul que vem do infinito2025Mocidade IndependenteEspecial RJ"Voltando para o futuro – Não há limites pra sonhar"
Awards
Gold Standard
2006 – Best enredo (Salgueiro - "Microcosmos: o que os olhos não veem, o coração sente") 2013 – Best enredo (Salgueiro - "Fama") 2016 – Best enredo (Salgueiro - "A Ópera dos Malandros")
Star of the Carnival
2011 – Best set of allegories (Salgueiro) 2013 – Best set of costumes (Salgueiro) 2014 – Best set of costumes (Salgueiro) 2015 – Best set of allegories (Salgueiro) 2016 – Best enredo (Salgueiro - "A Ópera dos Malandros")
Gato de Prata
2011 – Best enredo ("Salgueiro Apresenta: o Rio no Cinema") 2015 – Best carnaval set designers (Salgueiro)
Prêmio 100% Carnival
2022 – Best set of costumes (Portela)
Veja Rio Award
2014 – Best allegory (Abre-alas do Salgueiro)
S@mba-Net
2022 – Best set of costumes (Portela)
Tamborim de Ouro
2014 – Enredo Maravilha (Salgueiro - "Gaia - A Vida em Nossas Mãos") 2014 - Best set of allegories (Salgueiro)
Andarilho do Samba Trophy
2008 – Best enredo (Império Serrano - "Taí, Eu Fiz Tudo para Você Gostar de Mim")
Jorge Lafond Trophy
2008 – Best enredo (Império Serrano - "Taí, Eu Fiz Tudo para Você Gostar de Mim")
Sambario Trophy
2011 – Best allegory (King Kong no Relógio da Central)
Tupi Carnival Total Trophy
2011 – Melhor carnavalesco(a) (Salgueiro) 2022 - Melhor conjunto de fantasias (Portela)
References