3. Originating in Brazil in the 19th century, samba
owes its rhythm and moves to the African slave
dances on the Brazilian sugarcane plantations.
Brazilian dance is dominated by components of
Brazil’s African and Portuguese heritage. As in the
other Latin American countries where slave-
worked plantations became the basis of the
colonial economy, African influence on music and
dance was strong.
4. The traditional African circle dance with a lone
central performer relied on weight shifts, rapid
steps, and slides to a 2/4 percussive beat, and a
fairly still upper body with arms and hands
responding to the hip and leg movements.
Once slavery ended, the dancers migrated to
the favelas or shantytowns outside of cities, where
freed slaves put together dance troupes
for carnival.
5. The performances were boisterous and
uninhibited, generally frowned upon by Brazil's
Portuguese upper crust. But samba proved
irresistible, its popularity spilling across classes and
borders, its gyrations richly coloured by regional
and international influences.
Today, it would be impossible to imagine carnival
without samba.
6. Fred Astaire and Delores Del Rio danced a version
of samba, the carioca, in the 1933 film Flying Down
to Rio. Carmen Miranda, a Brazilian dancer who
samba'd her way through That Night in Rio, became
synonymous with the dance worldwide. The 1939
World's Fair cemented the American love affair with
samba when the music and dance was featured in
the Brazilian pavilion.
7. Today, the many iterations of samba are a
mainstay of pre-Lenten carnival in Rio De
Janeiro and of Latin ballroom dancing
everywhere. Now it's a solo dance, a couple's
dance, a street-dancing exhibition, and a
hybrid, merged with rock, acrobatics, and even
reggae.
8. Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Afro-
Brazilian origin in 2/4(2 by 4) time danced
to Samba music whose origins include the Maxixe.
A Selection of Samba
There has never been one definitive samba; the
dance is as fluid as the pelvic isolations that keep it
hot. Solo samba and partner samba styles work off
the same rhythms with fast or slow percussive
beats.
9. Solo Samba
Samba no pé is traditional solo samba
dance with simple, recognizable steps
spontaneously inspired by the music. It
follows a 2/4 count with three steps in
every measure, a basic step-ball-
change.
Manlan
git,
J.
Reporter:
10. 1. Begin with your feet together. Relax your knees
and keep them soft and bouncy throughout.
2. Step back onto the ball of the left foot, shifting
your weight to that foot.
3. Take a half-step forward onto the ball of the right
foot, again shifting your weight to the stepping foot.
4. "Slide" (step) the left foot to just behind the right
foot, landing on the ball of the foot and taking the
weight on that foot.
11. 5. Step back onto the ball of the right foot, shifting weight
again, and repeat the sequence.
6. You don't "travel" as you step forward and back. As you
catch the rhythm and pick up the pace to match the
tempo of the music, your relaxed knees will give you the
samba bounce and your hips will start to move to match
the weight shifts.
7. Allow your arms to swing naturally as you repeat the
pattern to the percussive beat.
Men dance the samba no pé on the flat of the foot.
Women, who wear high heels, dance on the ball of the
foot.
12. Samba Axé is a modern variation of the solo
dance - very bouncy with elements of aerobics.
Music groups release new songs
with choreography tailored to each song as part of
a marketing strategy. Samba axé is always
changing, with specific moves dependent on the
lyrics. Typically the dance will start slow and
progress to a rapid tempo.
13. - is one of the popular types of Latin
dances in ballroom competitions. Before
samba became a ballroom dance style,
there were original partner samba dances,
the most common of which is the Samba
gafieira.
Partner
Samba
14. Samba gafieira is described as a cross between
a waltz and a tango. Because it is a more
spontaneous dance than the tango, the posture
of the dancers is more relaxed. Samba dancers
are infectiously happy, not dramatic and
intense, but samba grafieira does have some
common elements with tango.
15. Originally, the dance was a simple
partner dance that drew many of its
characteristics from the Brazilian maxixe, a
more genteel version of tango that evolved in
Brazil as the tango took hold in neighboring
Argentina.
16. But, as the samba changed over time, more and
more linked legs, tricks, turns, and other acrobatic
feats were added to the choreography. As with the
solo samba, the samba grafieira partner dance has
a quick beat, which means the footwork is fast.
Learn it slow, one sequence at a time, and then
pick up the speed. Try a paso giro simples -- simple
spin step.
17. 1. Follow the waltz pattern of a simple box step; the
body positions, space between partners and hand
placements are the same as those for a waltz.
2. Repeat the entire box step twice for a total of eight
beats.
3. Then, step to one side together, bending the knee as
you shift your weight to the stepping foot.
4. Immediately half-step your other foot in toward the
weight-bearing foot; it's really more of a quick tap.
18. 5. Continue moving the tapping foot back in place as you
step down firmly, shifting your weight to it and bringing
the other foot in for a quick tap.
6. Step out to the side again with the first foot and repeat
the sequence for a total of four beats, or four side-steps
in place.
7. Now drop your hands without moving apart, step to
the side with the original foot, turning your body in
toward your partner as your swing the other foot around
so you are facing apart.
19. 8. Once you are back-to-back, keep turning your
head and torso in the direction you are moving,
taking a step to the side with the original foot.
9. Bring the other foot around, crossing the
original foot and completing the turn so you are
standing, facing your partner again. This entire
turn, or spin, takes four beats.
10. Resume the waltz position - and hand contact -
to continue the dance.
20. - is another partner dance, a spin-off from
samba party culture that features many elements
of ballroom-style samba but can be very showy and
athletic, with lots of dips, spins and lifts, depending
on the abilities of the dancers.
Samba Pagode
Jacinto,
M.
Reporter:
21. In ballroom competitions all around the world,
there are dancers dancing the samba. This
ballroom version of the samba is different from all
of the sambas previously mentioned.
The samba in ballroom dancing did not originate in
Brazil; of course, the music is samba music, but the
style is more Latin ballroom than traditional.
Ballroom
Samba
22. The Two Basic
Samba Dance Steps
To dance the samba you only need two actual steps, and
they are mirrors of each other. Actually, the word "step" is
a little misleading, as most expert dancers will point out
that it's more of a weight shift (or, to use a choreographic
term, a "ball change") from foot to foot. Traditionally,
men will start with a Forward Basic, which the woman
mirrors with a Backward Basic. Each will then reverse
direction for the next two measures and repeat, going
back and forth.
23.
24. Now, use the printable to practice the following samba
steps. Both partners face each other to start.
Forward Basic (Leader)
1. On the first beat of the music, slide the left foot
forward very slightly and put the body's full weight on it.
2. the right foot forward, let the body shift subtly onto
the ball of the left foot. The right heel shouldn't touch
the floor.
3. After the left leg lifts as the weight shifts, place it back
on the floor, flat and ready to go into the complementary
back basic.
25. Back Basic (Follower)
1. On the first beat of the music, slide the right foot
back very slightly and put the body's full weight on it.
2.Sliding the left foot back, let the weight shift subtly
onto the ball of the left foot. This move is also subtle,
with the left heel never even making it to the floor.
3. After the right leg rises because of the ball change,
let it come back fully to the floor, with the full weight
coming back.
26. Turn the Samba Square
If you want to go further with learning the samba,
try the samba square. Like the rhythm of the basic
samba steps, it goes long quick, short quick, and
then slow. The leader starts the samba square
forward and does the second half backward. The
follower starts the samba square backward and
does the second half forward.
Once again, both partners should be facing each
other.
27. Forward Samba Square (Leader)
1. Bend the left knee as you step forward with your left
foot.
2. Straighten your right knee as you step to the right
with the right foot.
3. Bend both knees as you bring the left foot to the
right foot.
4. Straighten your knees.
28. Backward Samba Square (Follower)
1. Bend the right knee as you step backward with your
right foot.
2. Straighten your left knee as you step to the left with
your left foot.
3. Bend both knees as you bring your right foot to the
left foot.
4. Straighten both knees.
29. Samba Side Step
Both partners face each other for the start of the side
step.
Samba Side Step (Leader)
1. Bend the left knee as you step to the left with the left
foot.
2. Bring the right foot behind and across the left foot,
then straighten.
Gumba
n,
M.
Reporter:
30. 3. Bend the left knee as you step in place with your
left foot. Keep the right foot in place in back.
4. Straighten.
5. Bend the right knee as you step to the right with
the right foot.
6. Bring the left foot behind and across the right
foot, then straighten.
7. Bend the right knee as you step in place with
your right foot. Keep the left foot in its place.
8. Straighten.
31. Samba Side Step (Follower)
1. Bend the right knee as you step to the right with
your right foot.
2. Bring the left foot behind and across the right foot,
then straighten.
3. Bend the right knee as you step in place with the
right foot. Leave your left foot in place in back.
4. Straighten.
32. 5. Bend the left knee as you step to the left with
the left foot.
6. Bring the right foot behind and across the left
foot, then straighten.
7. Bend the left knee as you step in place with your
left foot. Keep the right foot in place in back.
8. Straighten.
33. The Samba Grand
Finish
Dancers finish the samba in a dramatic way. The
proper way to finish the samba is to extend your
hands out to the side and throw your head back.
This distinct grand finale to the passionate
movements adds just the right finishing touch to
the dance.
