Samba dance is Beautiful, Fun, Energetic, Expressive Dance for Everybody.
Our performances
in this style are unique in the way we use music and our many dancers array
of dance skills, and gorgeous costumes to stun the crowd. We can customize
our dance shows to suit your needs, (eg, on a catwalk, in more modest costumes,
length or number of dancers)
We concentrate our focus, particularly for performances on Samba no Pe- the
oldest, most popular and traditional form of Samba danced in Brazil.
Samba is prinicipally a solo dance, danced impromptu when samba music is played.
Some say the term samba comes from the word semba, a Congo/Angola expression
used to describe a traditional African dance brought to Brasil by slaves.
Samba originated in the suburbs and favelas of Rio de Janeiro and it's the
type of Samba we see on the Brazilian Carnival parades where dancers are adorned
in beautiful costumes covered in feathers and sequins.
Samba or Samba music is often an umbrella-term encompassing several different
forms of music such as Samba no Pe, Samba de Roda, Samba-Reggae, Samba Axe,
Samba de Gafiera. (click on each specific Samba style
to read more)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samba
No Pe/ Carnival Samba
We perform beautiful samba no pe choreographed pieces in full Brazilian costumes
(we also have a modernised trouser version of the costume), The costumes are
just like you might see the passistas wearing in carnival and the dancing
just as fast and energetic. We have both male and female Samba dancers who
perform electrifying dances to get you in the spirit of Rio carnival!
About Rio Carnival
Carnival Samba, is practised in samba schools in Rio, which descend from neighbourhood blocos (neighbourhood block parties). Groups would come together to sing and dance to percussion music. Blocos celebrated carnival in their own neighbourhoods with small scale costumes (to find out more read Ruy Castros ‘Carnaval no fogo/ carnival under fire’). The first recorded sambas appeared from 1917 onwards, and the first samba school Deixa Falar (Let Them Speak) was formed in 1928. Samba schools such as Mangueira (1930) and Portela (1935), still exist to this day.
A typical samba
school can number 3000 to 4000 members‚ although not all members will
perform for carnival- there will be people behind the scenes- building props
and floats, making costumes, designing elements of the entry, doing the administration.
Carnival is celebrated each year in February or early March. Samba schools
will begin their preparations for the carnival as early as mid July. Samba
school members compose songs and submit designs for costumes, floats, etc.
The samba enredo (winning song) is selected and becomes the key song and determines
the overall theme for that year's entry. Then, intensive rehearsals, float
construction and costume making commences which will continue right up to
the beginning of carnival.
A samba school carnival entry will include singers (puxadores)‚ musicians,
including a drumming section called the bateria- about 200 people make up
the bateria!, different wings (alas) of dancers- including ala das passistas-
the ones that do the best samba no pe!, there is always a beautiful queen
leading the procession, mestre sala and porta bandeira- a couple- the woman
carries a huge flag which she uses to spin round and round whilst mestre sala
dances around her, there will be giant puppets, several floats (there must
be at least 4, velha guarda - all ornately decorated or wearing colourful
costumes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samba
Reggae
This style is danced to heavy drum rhythms. Samba Reggae is from Bahia and
North Eastern Brazil. Samba Reggae is very different to traditional samba
no Pe with much more African influence in the movements. We teach energetic
dance classes in this style which will really get you moving, using different
levels, and exploring your own movements.
About
Samba Reggae in Bahia
Carnival traditions developed differently in Bahia, and are closely linked
with the black-consciousness movement of the 1970’s. Samba Reggae has
had the same influences as Rio samba, but there are also influences from soul,
funk and reggae. Like in Rio, there were neighbourhood blocos called ‘Afro-blocs’.
The groups set about educating people about African cultures while speaking
out about past and present injustices and inequalities in Brasilian society.
Their music contains a stronger African influence than Rio samba.
The first Afro bloc was Ile Aiye formed in 1974. Ile Aiye specialises in provocative pro-black lyrics. Another well known Afro bloc is Olodum. Amongst others, Olodum have recorded and performed with such luminaries as Jimmy Cliff, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon and Michael Jackson.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Axé is also a Bahian dance. Axé is danced to wonderfully cheesy Samba Music and MPB- Musica Popular do Brasil- Brazilian Pop Music. Axé dances are follow the leader style set routines to music - each song has a dance - a bit like the Macarena. These dances are cheesy, but great fun, a great way to get people Samba-ing, and a great ice breaker or to lighten the mood at your party or event…..and you’d be surprised no-one can resist!, even the shyest will end up joining these fun, easy, accessible routines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samba/
Afro-Brazilian
We can also teach elements of the dances of Orixas. The Afro-Brasilian dance
we teach is evolved from the Brasilian religion Candomble. Candomblé
deities or Orixas and rituals are an integral part of Brazilian folklore.
Dance is used to honour deities or Orixas, and each Orixa has his or her own
dance. Many Orixas are associated to natures Elements. We will usually incorporate
this with Samba Reggae movements and elements of contemporary dance. This
can work really well in school and educational works, in particular with the
theme the Elements.
The History of the Orixas in Brazil
The Orixas feature in Candomble - an African-American religion practiced chiefly in Brazil but also in adjacent countries. The religion came from Africa to Brazil, carried by African priests and adherents who were brought as slaves between 1549 and 1888. The name Batuque is also used, especially before the 19th century when Candomblé became more common. Both words are believed to derive from a Bantu-family language.
Although originally
confined to the slave population, banned by the Catholic church, and even
criminalized by some governments, Candomblé thrived for over four centuries,
and expanded considerably after the end of slavery in late 1800s. It is now
a major, established religion, with followers from all social classes and
tens of thousands of temples. In recent surveys, about 2 million Brazilians
(1.5% of the total population) have declared Candomblé as their religion.
However, in Brazilian culture, religions are not seen as mutually exclusive,
and thus many people of other faiths, up to 70 million according to some Afro-Brazilian
cultural organizations, participate in Candomblé rituals regularly
or occasionally. Candomblé deities, rituals, and holidays are now an
integral part of Brazilian folklore.
Brazilian slaves came from a number of ethnic groups, including Yoruba, Ewe, Fon, and Bantu. Slave handlers classified them by the shore of embarkment, so the relation to their actual ethnicity may be accurate or not. As the religion developed semi-independently in different regions of the country, among different ethnic groups, it evolved into several "sects" or nations (nações), distinguished chiefly by the set of worshipped deities, as well as the music and language used in the rituals.
The division into nations was also influenced by the religious and beneficent brotherhoods (irmandades) of Brazilian slaves organized by the Catholic Church in the 18th and 19th centuries. These fraternities, organized along ethnic lines to allow preaching in the slaves' native languages, provided a legitimate cover for slave reunions, and ultimately may have aided the establishment of Candomblé.
About Candomblé Beliefs
Candomblé is a spiritualist religion and worships a number of gods or spirits, derived from African deities:
The Orishas of
Yoruba mythology (Ketu nation), spelled Orixás in Portuguese;
The Voduns of the Ewe and Fon (Jejé nation); and
The Inkices (Minkisi) of the Bantu (Angola nation).
These spirits
were created by a supreme God: the Olorun (Olorum) of the Yoruba, Zambi or
Zambiapongo of the Bantu, and Mawu of the Fon.
Candomblé deities have individual personalities, skills, and ritual
preferences, and are connected to specific natural phenomena (a concept somewhat
similar to the Kami of Japanese Shintoism). Every person is chosen at birth
by one or more "patron" spirits, identifed by a priest. The spirits
(except the supreme Olorum) are "incorporated" by priests during
Candomblé rites.
During public
Candomble ceremonies, children-of-saint (medianic priests) invoke and "incorporate"
Orixás, falling into a trance-like state. After having fallen into
trance, the priest-spirits perform dances symbolic of the Orixá's attributes,
while the babalorixá or father of saint (leading male priest) leads
songs that celebrate the spirit's deeds. The ceremony ends with a banquet.
Candomblé music, an essential part of the ritual, derives from African
music and has had a strong influence in other popular (non-religious) Brazilian
music styles.
Altogether, the
various nations of Candomblé retain fifty or so of the hundreds of
deities still worshiped in Africa. There are many similarities between some
deities of different nations: e.g. Bantu Kabila, Ketu Oxósse and Jejé
Otulu are all hunters and have the same symbolic colors. In Candomblé,
however, they are considered different deities.
On the other hand, deities from one nation may be cultuated as "guests"
in houses and ceremonies of another nation, besides those of the latter. Some
nations assign new names to guest spirits, while some retain the names used
in the nation of origin.
How Candomble has become syncretised with Catholicism in Brazil
Over the centuries Candomblé has incorporated many elements from Christianity. Crucifixes are sometimes displayed in Candomblé temples, and the African deities were often identified with specific Catholic saints. This syncretism was in part a reaction to Church-inspired persecution by authorities and slave owners, who viewed Candomblé as paganism and witchcraft. Indeed, there are reports of Christian devotional altars being used in early slave houses to hide African cult icons and ritual objects. Even after the end of slavery, the claim that ritual dances of Candomblé were in honor of Catholic saints was often used, by practitioners and authorities alike, as an excuse to avoid confrontation.
However, religious persecution may not be the only reason for Candomblé's syncretism. One should note that syncretism was more natural for polytheist and multi-ethnic Candomblé than for the centralized, strongly monotheistic religions of the Old World. In this regard, it is worth noting that some Candomblé rites have also incorporated local Indian gods which, to the Church, were just as pagan as the Orixás because they were seen as the "Orishas of the land"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samba
De Gafiera
Samba de Gafiera is a partner dance which has evolved through a mixing of
Tango, Forro, Samba and other dances into an exciting and expressive dance,
very different to Samba no Pe.
In search of a Gafiera partner! If you are a male Gafiera dancer please contact us!
