SAMBA NO PE

"Pe" in Portuguese means "foot". It is popularly known as Rio style samba. This dance is freestyle impromptu as danced by professional samba dancers "passistas" in Carnaval and lovers of samba all over the world.

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SAMBA DE RODA

"Roda" (pronounced ho-dah) meaning wheel in Portuguese, refers to a circle. This dance originated in Bahia. People danced the samba in a circle often with one to two individuals going into the center of the circle for solos until bumped out by another dancer. 

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SAMBA AXÉ 

Axé style emerged in Bahia in the early 1990's. This style of samba has choreographed routines that match the lyrics of the song, with easy to learn fun movements. 

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SAMBA REGGAE

The reggae rhythm began in Bahia in the early 1970's by pioneer groups Ile Aiye and Olodum. The music is heavily influenced by Jamaican reggae beats with an Afro-Brazilian flare. Dance movements for this samba dance style are very large, energetic and use the entire body.

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SAMBA FUNK

Samba Funk emerged at the end of the 1960's with pianist Dom Salvador and his group, which merged the samba with American funk, which had newly arrived in Brazil. 

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SAMBA DE MALANDRO 

The Malandro or "hustler" character developed in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. This is the mens style of samba and is characterized by white suits, white fedoras with red trim and white shirt with red tie. This samba incorporates smooth footwork and lots of personality. 

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SAMBA DE GAFIEIRA

A partner dance considerably different from the ballroom samba It appeared in the 1940's and it gets its name from the gafieira-popular urban nightclubs of Rio de Janeiro at that time. The dance comes from the Maxixe and followed the arrival of the Choro (another samba style). It left most of the Maxixe's polka elements behind but maintained the entwined leg movements of the Argentine tango, although adopting a more relaxed body posture than the later. Many see this form of samba as a combination of waltz and tango. From its inception to nowadays the Samba de Gafieira has incorporated many acrobatic movements and has evolved to become today's most complex dancing style of samba in Brazil. 

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SAMBA DE PAGODE

A samba partner dance that resembles the Samba De Gafieira but has less acrobatic movements and tends to be more intimate. It became a dance style after the appearance of the pagode and started in the city of São Paulo.

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SAMBA ROCK

Samba Rock is a playful form of samba that originated in São Paulo, often danced in nightclubs. It resembles a bit of Samba de Gafieira, Forró, Zouk-Lambada, and Salsa. 

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AFRO SAMBA

A blend of strong West African dance movements and traditional samba.

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SAMBA ENREDO

An enredo is the song performed by the samba schools for the annual Carnaval parade. 

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Special Thanks to our partners Jazz-Ylaine Baptiste and Samba Queens Academy for their contributions:

sambaqueensacademy.com

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