Milton Reis da Cunha Júnior (born March 19, 1962) is a Brazilian carnival designer ('' carnavalesco''), set designer, psychologist, university professor and carnival commentator. He holds a master's and doctorate in Literature (Literary Science) from the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public university, public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and r ...

. Since 2013, he has been a commentator on the Rio de Janeiro samba school parade on

TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

Biography

He was born in

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

and raised on

Marajó Island Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially Mac ...

. Misunderstood by his family due to his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, Milton, at the age of 19, moved from

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 1982, never seeing his parents in person again. Then he started working with nightclub owner Chico Recarey, who was his first patron. He graduated in Psychology. Ten years later, encouraged by the honorary president of the

Beija-Flor The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Beija-Flor is a Samba school headquartered in the municipality of Nilópolis, Baixada Fluminense, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, Beija-Flor has won 15 parades of the Carnaval do Rio d ...

samba school,

Anísio Abraão David Aniz Abraão David (Rio de Janeiro, 7 June 1937), better known as Anísio, is an operator in the illegal jogo do bicho lottery (popularly known as ''bicheiro'') and the honorary president of the ''Beija-Flor'' samba school in Nilópolis. He has b ...

, Milton Cunha became a carnival designer. He inherited

Joãosinho Trinta João Clemente Jorge Trinta, better known as Joãosinho Trinta (23 November 1933 – 17 December 2011), was a Brazilian people, Brazilian director of parades for Samba Schools in Rio de Janeiro during Rio Carnival, Carnival (carnavalesco). Trin ...

's office as a carnival designer, working at Beija-Flor from 1994 to 1997. He has worked in several

samba schools A samba school () is a dancing, marching, and drumming (Samba Enredo) club. They practice and often perform in a huge square- compounds ("quadras de samba") and are devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an Afro-Brazilian dance and drumming ...

, such as the

União da Ilha do Governador União is the Portuguese word for Union. It may refer to: *the Brazilian federal government *União do Vegetal, a church known for its usage of Hoasca as tea * Brazilian frigate ''União'' (F45), a general-purpose ''Niterói'' class frigate launc ...

, Leandro of Itaquera from

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Unidos da Tijuca The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Unidos da Tijuca is a samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro (city), Rio de Janeiro. It was founded on 31 December 1931 from the fusion of existing blocks in Morro do Borel. Among its founders are Lea ...

São Clemente São Clemente (Portuguese for "Saint Clement") may refer to: Places * São Clemente (Loulé), a civil parish in Loulé, Portugal * São Clemente, a civil parish in Fafe, Braga, Portugal * São Clemente de Basto, a civil parish in Celorico de Basto, ...

Unidos do Viradouro Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Unidos do Viradouro, or simply Viradouro or Unidos do Viradouro, is a samba school that competes in the Carnival Rio de Janeiro (city), city of Rio de Janeiro. It is located in the Barreto, Niterói, Barreto ne ...

, Porto da Pedra and Acadêmicos do Cubango. In 2007, he worked at the Brazilian Carnival Ball, where he was until the last edition of the ball until 2012. He worked as a carnival designer from 2010 to 2013 at Sierras del Carnaval, a samba school in San Luis,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. He also carried out work related to carnival in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and worked as a set designer for shows by artists such as

Luan Santana Luan Rafael Domingos Santana (; born 13 March 1991) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter. His first live album was a bestseller throughout 2010, selling over 100,000 copies. Early life Santana was born on March 13, 1991, in Campo Grande (MS). He f ...

and

Ney Matogrosso Ney de Souza Pereira (born 1 August 1941), known professionally as Ney Matogrosso (), is a Brazilian singer who is distinguished for his uncommon countertenor voice. He was ranked by ''Rolling Stone'' as the third greatest Latin American singer ...

. He is the artistic director of the

Cidade do Samba Cidade do Samba (Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Samba City''), formally known as Cidade do Samba Joãosinho Trinta, is a complex of buildings in the neighborhood of Gamboa, Rio de Janeiro, Gamboa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is used for Samba s ...

shows, where he has been since 2007. Since 2013, he has been a commentator on the Rio de Janeiro samba school parade on

and previously, since 2002, he commented on several access and champion parades for CNT and

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

, and on Band itself, he was a commentator for the

Parintins Folklore Festival Parintins Folklore Festival (''Festival Folclórico de Parintins''), or the Parintins Festival (''Festival de Parintins'') is a popular annual celebration during three days in late June held in the Brazilian city of Parintins, Amazonas State, Bra ...

. Milton Cunha was married to a

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher Eduardo Costa from 2007 to 2024. They met online.

Works

* ''Carnaval é cultura: Poética e técnica no fazer escola de samba'' (2015) * ''Viva e aproveite: O primeiro ano do resto de nossas vidas'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Milton Living people 1962 births Rio Carnival People from Belém Brazilian psychologists Brazilian designers 20th-century Brazilian LGBTQ people 21st-century Brazilian LGBTQ people