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Brazilian Dance Samba

November 26, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

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I’ve never been much of a dancer.  I was always a wallflower at high school dances.  However, last year when I took a trip to Rio de Janeiro in the colorful country of Brazil, that all changed.  Everywhere I went, I saw Brazilians dancing so wildly and with such grace.  Despite the individual styles, I saw a certain uniformity in the type of dance.  With the tiny bit of Portuguese that I knew, I began asking people what style of dance they were dancing.  The answer was the same–Samba!

Samba is an old Brazilian style of dance with African origins.  It has many different variations, but it’s fairly easy to identify because of the specific rhythm involved.  At Carnival, street performers moved their bodies in the rhythmic Samba dance.  I remember thinking at first that I could never dance the way they danced.  However, I decided that I wanted to learn and went around looking for the right teacher.

My teacher, Enri, had been dancing Samba for nearly forty years.  He explained that the basis of Samba involves rapid steps taken on a quarter of a beat as well as a swaying and rocking motion.  It took me a few weeks to get the footwork and swaying motion down.  It’s particularly difficult to learn how to dance with a partner because it’s so fast paced!  Despite the challenge involved, I decided to go out one night to the local dance club to show off  my new moves.

I arrived at Bossa Nova late in the evening as most Brazilians don’t show up until almost midnight.  I was surprised to find that the version of Samba that most people did at the nightclubs was very different than my stiff classroom style.  After a few hours of dancing with as many locals as I could, I decided to just let go and have fun.

Dancing Samba incorrectly was slightly embarrassing at times.  However, I soon realized that it wasn’t nearly as bad as the looks I got every time I spoke broken Portuguese.  Sometimes looking like a fool is just part of the travel experience.  I highly recommend that you take some Samba lessons next time you visit Rio de Janeiro.  You will be completely intoxicated by the South American flair…even if you do trip all over yourself in the process!