Samba is a very feminine, graceful and beautiful dance style. Extremely sensual, very technical and the results
of learning it are always very positive and empowering.
The music is vibrant and contagious, infiltrates deep in our hearts and make us feel very alive and happy*
HISTORY OF SAMBA
Samba is one of the most popular forms of music and
dance in Brazil. Moreover, It is
widely viewed as Brazil's national musical style. The name semba (please note
the difference in spelling) most probably comes from the Afro Brazilian
"lundu"( XVIII century), also known as umbigada or batuque: a mixture
of African rhythym brought from the slaves of Angola who lived in Bahia state.
When the slaves were transferred to Vale do Paraíba (XIX
century) to work on coffee plantations, they brought the semba with them. They
later moved to the National Capital; Rio de Janeiro, and after the abolition of
slavery semba gained its own identity and gained rapid mainstream growth.
Whilst living in the carioca (carioca is a person from Rio)
districts of Gamboa and Saúde the freed slaves introduced the African rhythym
semba to Royalty. It used to be danced in the houses of Bahia's black ladies
like Amélia, Ciata and Prisciliana.This rhythym soon developed into what we
know today as Samba, mixing with polca, maxixe and xote.
The
title "samba school" ("escola de samba") originates from
samba's formative years. The term was adopted by larger groups of samba
performers in an attempt to lend acceptance of samba and its performance; local
campuses were often the practice/performance grounds for these musicians and
"escola" gave early performers a sense of legitimacy and organization
to offset samba's somewhat controversial social atmosphere.
