Global Samba

Youth Orchestra of Bahia

2010-07-07T22:42:00.003+01:00

The 3 month long Brazil Festival is in full swing in London's south bank. Tonight I saw the amazing and oh so talented Youth Orchestra of Bahia (YOBA). The show was absolutely amazing as they stomped, swayed and played their hearts out. The group is lead by Ricardo Castro who is an accomplished pianist and founder of Neojiba. YOBA has been together only a short 3 years and most had never played an instrument before meeting Ricardo. They played the traditional Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue and then added flavor to Arturo Marquez's Danzon No. 2 with tambourines and maracas. I couldn't help but dance in my seat...and this was an orchestra. Definitely not traditional!

If you are in London, I highly recommend checking out the many events, concerts, art shows going on. Website is here. Best orchestra show I have seen in a while.

P.s. Ricardo was adorable when he told us the score of the world cup match (Germany V. Spain) at the intermission and thanked us for being there.

Samba Music That Makes You Feel Good

2010-03-12T15:12:00.000Z

The minute I hear a drum beat a rush comes over me and I'm instantly in a happy mood. Music is so expressive and brings people's energy together. It is also very personal. Discovering samba music may take more work as its not marketed as much as pop or mainstream music outside of Brazil. One of the best ways to find music, other than trolling through online music sites which I do often, is through podcasts. There are a wide range of music compilations which can lead you to new sounds and artists.

Here are a few I subscribe to:

Brazilian Beatz Podcast - party beats/up tempo, hosted by DJ Vivo
LoungeBR - classical/jazz/bossa nova, hosted by Rodrigo Santiago
Muqueca de Siri: Samba Radio - variety of genres with a huge list of referring sites, hosted by Conrad Rose

Podomatic is a podcast host and is a great place to find new music.

Happy Listening!

image: coolchaser

Braving the cold and celebrating carnaval

2010-01-13T20:03:00.004Z

Not going to Brazil in February for Carnaval? Celebrating in spirit is the next best thing, but if you feel like being surrounded by feathery costumes, music and a lot of happy people, you can go to one of the many carnavals happening across Europe. One of my favorite travel planning sites, Joboili, has full details of each carnaval here. The carnaval in Las Palmas, Spain just made the short list!
You may even find some other interesting events like the World Body Painting Festival in Austria in July.

Global warming turn your city into a freezing cold igloo? In New York you are sure to warm up with the lovely Quenia Ribeiro. She is hosting a Spirit of Carnaval Workshop at the Alvin Ailey America Dance Theater on February 7th. A great way to learn more about Brazilian culture and pick up some new dance moves.

We hope you can celebrate in style, whether you enjoy the sunshine in Brazil or get your fur hat on and hit the streets of Venice.

2010 Carnavals

2009-11-29T11:11:00.004Z

2010 will be another exciting year for carnavals. We can't wait to see the creative themes and costumes, as well as hear the songs from the world famous baterias. Start planning your travels with the updated Global Samba carnaval calendar. Carnavals across Brazil start Feb 13, 2010 and promises to provide amazing shows. Below is the specific line up for the Rio baterias:

Time	Sunday, Feb. 14th	Monday, Feb. 15th
21:00	Uniao da Ilha	Mocidade Independente
22:05 - 22:20	Imperatriz Leopoldinense	Porto da Pedra
23:10 - 23:40	Unidos da Tijuca	Portela
00:15 - 01:00	Unidos do Viradouro	Academicos do Grande Rio
01:20 - 02:20	Academicos do Salgueiro	Unidos de Vila Isabel
02:25 - 03;40	Beija-Flor de Nilopolis	Estacao Primeira de Mangueira

Click here for comprehensive details about Rio carnaval. And more on Salvador carnaval.

Brazilians in New York

2009-11-23T13:50:00.001Z

Global Samba just got back from New York and we had a great time. You may remember our interview with Quenia Ribeiro, Brazilian samba professional and guru. Well, we got to meet her in person. Her samba class was so much fun!, we danced Rio and samba reggae styles. She is a ball of energy and super sweet!

We briefly talked about the carnival parade which happens on W 46th street (Little Brazil) in September. Quenia mentioned she participates, however it doesn't have a large presence.
Why so small for the Big Apple? Where are all the Brazilians in New York?!

This question got me thinking about the history of Brazilians migrating to New York. Maybe understanding the history would shed some light on why the largest and most famous parade known to Brazilians is fairly small there. Luckily, Dr. Maxine Margolis asked the same historical question in the 1980's and wrote a book about her research entitled, Little Brazil: An Ethnography of Brazilian Immigrants in New York City.

Dr. Maxine Margolis uncovered some of the unknown facts about the Brazilian community in New York. When Brazilians migrated (also to other areas in the east coast of the US), they mainly settled on W 46th Street and in Astoria, Queens. Brazilians migrated mostly as educated middle class. Many excelled and were owners of Brazilian banks and other establishments and some were part of the labor intensive jobs from housekeeping to restaurant work. Dr. Maxine Margolis spend a couple of years speaking with hundreds of families and informants to bring to life the journeys of Brazilians. It took so long because much of the immigration information doesn't exist, and many families would be deported if found illegal so stayed very much under the radar. These communities were bound by language barriers in some cases and didn't want to bring attention to themselves.

Does this explain why carnaval is rather small? While the communities do celebrate, they aren't yelling from the rooftops, we are here!

Next year Global Samba wants to join the New Yorkers at the carnaval and really find out for ourselves.
If you have any insights about Brazilians in New York we would love to learn more.

Project Dance, Empowering Women

2009-11-14T14:52:00.003Z

Thanks again to everyone who emailed me about Project Dance. Its moving in the right direction and wanted to update you on the progress.

A woman I work with is now on the board of the YWCA in the UK, an organization focusing on helping women age 11-30 through a variety of services. Project Dance will be an event to empower women through dance and music. It will take place in London on International Women's Day, March 8, 2010. I am hoping we can do events in other cities as well.

More details will come shortly and since the event is planned for March we have some time. If others are interested in getting involved please write me and stay tuned!

In the mean time, lets keep learning, living and loving samba!

Thank you! and update on Project: Dance

2009-10-25T21:55:00.003Z

Ola! Thank you to everyone for your amazing feedback and excitement to get involved with what I'm now calling Project: Dance. It's still in the works and I am in discussions with a woman from the board of an organization interested in supporting our efforts. In addition, I/we need to approach dance schools to get them on board for a dance event.

Please keep the feedback and volunteering coming. I will keep you as up to date as possible on my progress and time lines.

Power your soul through dance!

Shall We Dance?

2009-10-18T18:35:00.004+01:00

As I was writing the last post about women forbidden to dance, I wasn't sure how to end it because I felt I needed to do something. Its an on-going issue and maybe only writing about it isn't enough. Its clear...we need to take action. Shall we dance? Should we put on a performance and align with an organization who is helping women enrich their lives through dance? This is the first time Global Samba would participate in an event like this, and would love your support and ideas!

Please comment or email me at globalsamba@gmail.com with ideas for a performance or an organization helping women in the arts.

As soon as I have more details on what we are going to do, you will be the first to know!

Women Forbidden to Dance

2009-10-14T09:44:00.002+01:00

The amazing aspect of traveling for me is learning something new or gaining a different perspective. My recent trip to Marrakesh, Morocco got me thinking about women and our freedom to dance.

While in one of the hammams, I saw an advertisement in a women's magazine for a dance school. It said it offered classes for Afro Brazilian, capoeira, classical and a few others. I was instantly elated and asked one of the women working there if the school was close by. The immediate response was, 'its not too far but they don't allow women to dance'. further she said, 'I wouldn't be allowed in and as a western women they would turn you away as well; you wouldn't be accepted to take the class'. I gulped my shock and thought to myself, What, forbidden to dance?! My mind was quickly racing to find an explanation. It didn't make sense to me. Intellectually, yes I am aware of different cultures, however emotionally, morally, this didn't feel right. The woman went on to tell me about her passion for dance, however there was something holding her back.

Regardless of whether or not I believe in certain cultural traditions, norms, rules or laws, its almost 2010 and would like to think we have evolved to understand the benefits of self expression and equal freedoms. As I understand it from a few people, Morocco is fairly advanced in their thinking compared to some other countries with similar religious traditions. What confuses me is in countries that are known to have particular religious traditions or social rules, there are also women in places of power. How does this add up?

There are many topics here that can be explored in more depth and which we can debate. What I took away from this brief experience is to remind myself every time I go dancing to infuse as much energy into it as possible because I could just as easily not have the opportunity.

2016 Olympics in Rio De Janiero

2009-10-04T09:47:00.004+01:00

For the first time ever the Olympic games will be hosted in Rio de Janiero! This is a huge deal as the Olympics has never been hosted in South America. We are so excited to see how the music and dance will be encorporated into the games and how the culture will be infused in the events.

The games will take place in Copacabana, Barra, Deodoro and Maracana. Rio will be transformed to accompdate the Olympics with new highways being built between the sites the games will take place. With amazingly inviting weather, plush land and energy of the people of Brazil it is guarenteed to be one of the best Olympics in history.

Samba in Amsterdam...How About Zouk

2009-09-20T15:33:00.002+01:00

When you think of Amsterdam, samba probably isn't the first thing you think of. We were in the lovely city full of charming canals, "cafes" and bicycles...lots of bicycles! If you are looking for a place to samba, the classes are few and far between as Zouk is actually more popular. Zouk music and dancing originated with the Caribbean islands and while there is a Zouk brazilian style of dance, you will more often see french caribbean or lambada style being danced. The brazilian style of Zouk takes the brazilian steps you would see in Forro and combines it with the distinct hair swinging movements.

If you do find yourself in Amsterdam and wanting to lift yourself out of the "cafes", this site may help you find a close by location to get your groove on.

Samba Sytle - Part 3: Forro

2009-09-10T18:56:00.004+01:00

Forro is a partner dance, originating from the rural northeast of Brazil and the next style we want to personally learn! There are several styles of forro including Xote and Baião, which then have several sub-styles as new sounds of music are developed. Other latin dances like bolero, lambada, salsa, zouk etc. have similar movements so if you are familiar with these sytles, you will probably learn Forro quickly.

Forro is a dance that is truely created as a result of the folk sounding music; the traditional instruments played are the accordion, zabumba (drums) and a metal triangle. The internationalization of Forro began when Luiz Gonzaga's creative new melodies moved to Southern Brazil and became popular. Over time new sytles are created, however many of the original styles of Forro are still very important to people of northeast of Brazil as it is a connection to their culture. Today, the ecelectic sounds of Forro music are widespread and we can't wait to be part of the fun!

Guanabara in London does lessons during the week. We'll be sure to check it out. If you have suggestions of where we can dance Forro, let us know!

"Vira e Mexe" Luiz Gonzaga

The Journal of Cultural Conversation Interviews Global Samba

2009-09-06T09:40:00.004+01:00

An amazing friend who is the Publisher and Editor of The Journal of Cultural Conversation recently sat down with us at Global Samba to find out more about Brazilian culture, music and dance! You can read the interview here.

The Journal of Cultural Conversation is just that, a converstion about many aspects of culture, society and people. The content is eclectic and always entertaining. We love getting the latest stories & interviews and being involved with her community. Big thanks to The Journal of Cultural Conversation team!

The Spirit of Brazil in London: Notting Hill Carnaval

2009-09-02T14:41:00.006+01:00

This year the sprit of brazilian culture was threaded through the Notting Hill Carnaval with elaborate custumes, feathers everywhere and baterias fueling the sounds. The energy was electric and the sea of bright colors filled the streets. Massive sound systems are set up on 18 wheeler trucks with drummers and djs pumping out caribbean, calypso, reggae, brazilian music. We are still on a high from the live music!

After the parade we all went back to eat, dance and play more music (also called a pagode). The drummers sat in a circle and started freestyle playing and singing.
Bruno Ribas, the famous puxador (sama singer) in Rio and Mestre Esteves were still with us and lead the group for hours of what we think was the best part of the day.
Check out the street parade here:

Notting Hill Carnaval in London this Weekend!

2009-08-27T19:33:00.011+01:00

The excitement is in the air for the 50th anniversary of Notting Hill's Carnaval in London, happening this weekend. The Carnaval in London is the largest in Europe and likely the 3rd largest in the world behind Brazil and Trinidad & Tabago.

Notting Hill Carnaval kicked off with a launch party at Cargo and the buzz hasn't stopped since. This year we are participating in the parade so all weekend we'll be getting ready for the big day on Monday, August 31st. We are parading with Paraiso School of Samba and have the pleasure of having Bruno Ribas, a famous puxador (sama singer) in Rio singing for us and Mestre Esteves leading the Bateria. If you are in London, be sure to follow us real time by texting FIND to 0775 769 9292 or finding us on the map. You can also follow along with the song for this year.

Beijos!

For the Love of Brazilian Culture and Dance: Interview with Quenia Ribeiro

2009-08-24T13:39:00.013+01:00

When you are learning samba or want a super fun workout at home, you can turn to Quenia Ribeiro, samba dancer and teacher extraordinaire. We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Quenia and were inspired by her energy and passion for her brazilian culture and samba dance. Quenia is a native of Rio de Janiero and is now living and teaching in New York. We got the inside scoop here!

Global Samba: With your extensive background and commitment to dancing, what keeps you inspired every day?

Quenia: First of all I would like to tell you how pleased and honored at your positive response to my work.

I love to dance, I love my Brazilian culture and most of all I love Samba. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to dance almost everyday. Here in the US people are interested and receptive to learning about Brazilian Culture through Music and Dance. New York is already so multi-cultural and people are not afraid to try new things. It feels good to see a student who has improved their ability to dance or improved their physical well being or even has just had a great time in my class. These are some of the things that motivate me.

Global Samba: How do you create and build your choreography?, and do you have a favorite samba style you like to integrate or focus on most often?

Quenia: I am constantly changing and modifying my steps and choreography. Whenever I find the opportunity I like to try new movements to see if they work. Since I am teaching regularly, I often have to do this in the context of a class. Its interesting to see what works for students in terms of keeping them challenged and interested. When I rehearse with my dance company "Grupo Ribeiro" we have more time to try a variety new movements and choreography in a more experimental atmosphere.
In my classes and my work I like to explore the roots of Samba. (Samba De Roda, Dancas dos Orixas , Jongo and folkloric dances in general). Since I am from Rio De Janeiro I also have a definite strong attraction to Samba No Pe / Samba from Rio. This is a more modern form that you would see performed by passistas in an Escola De Samba . The beauty of Brazil is that its so large and diverse that each region has its own music dances and traditions. You can never run out of new sources of interest and inspiration.

Global Samba: What are your thoughts on the development of samba dance styles/movements and music...does music fuel dancing or dancing fuel music?

Quenia: Its interesting to trace all of the connections from one form of dance to another. Samba has its roots in African dance (religious and secular) . Samba De Roda from Bahia is directly related to these forms (Semba , movements from the Candomble, etc). Everything keeps branching out and changing as it moved from the northeast to Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo. At the same time we have many different dance and musicforms from the Northeast that play a role in influencing samba (Maracatu, Frevo, etc) I feel that music fuels and motivates my dancing . The music in turn is inspired by the dance. Much of Brazilian music is very much about participation. I think this is an element that serves to attract such a universal audience. Its hard to say where the line divides music and dance because they are a part of each other.

Global Samba: What can your fans and the community look forward to from you next?

Quenia: We currently have 3 DVD's available to the public. I am working on future Grupo Ribeiro Dance company projects. I teach adults and kids regularly during the week. We are constantly working on new ideas and ways to keep moving forward and involve the public in our work. My goal has always been to work honestly and put the best of myself and my Brazilian culture out there. I am so happy to have an opportunity to share my passion , experience and talents with the rest of the world.

Thank you Quenia! We have the Dance Today and Samba Reggae Workout videos and break a sweat every time. When we are in New York we look forward to attending your class ( held at the Alvin Ailey Dance Studio on W 55th Street). Hope to see you back at Global Samba very soon!

To contact Quenia, check out her class schedule or purchase her amazing DVDs, visit her website.

Feel Like Dancing? Favorite Places for Samba

2009-08-21T15:20:00.002+01:00

Every night around the world, someone is samba dancing! Want to get in on the fun, especially when you travel?

We would love to hear where your favorite samba spots are, anywhere in the world!

Here are a few of mine:

Guanabara - London, UK
Bollywood - San Francisco, USA
Miss Favela - New York, USA
Cafe Com Leite for Sushi Samba Rio nights - Chicago, USA
Maluco Beleza - Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Myth of Orpheus

2009-08-17T21:45:00.000+01:00

Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) is an all time favorite film which will make you want to pack your bags and head for Brazil (and if you live there, love it even more). Written and directed by Marcel Camus and released in 1959, its a re-creation of a love story from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The myth goes like this:

Orpheus (son of Apollo) was blessed with musical talents that could turn the course of rivers and shift hillside rock with the sounds of his music. His beloved Eurydice had died and he longed for her. He was given one chance to get her back from the dead. All he had to do was lead her to the surface with out looking back for her. He finds her during Carnaval week and leads her towards the surface. Just as he stepped into the light, he turned to offer her a hand. She was too far behind and because Orpheus turned too soon she slipped back into the darkness of death.

While we may all wish for extra special powers, the real life musicians who created the soundtrack, changed the world of music overnight. Composers, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfá, became international stars from the songs "Manha de Carnival" and "O Nossa Amor". The inter-twining of the film's magical story telling and musical backdrop set the stage for a marvelous film that is unforgettable.

One of the happiest scenes is when the children are playing music and think they have special powers like Orpheus to make the sun rise:

Its a must see! You can pick it up on Amazon.

Hot Brazilian Music Artist: Céu

2009-08-12T17:49:00.005+01:00

The first time you hear Céu, or if you are like us, have her songs on heavy rotation, you will love her. Céu's sounds are a fusion of folk and contemporary with influences from our favorites, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Her 2007 album entitled Céu topped the popular Brazilian releases and her new album, Vagarosa delivers more of her jazzy, urban jungle sound and seductive voice.

Céu was recently in the US, here from a night at the Roxy in LA...

If you are in Brazil, you can check out her next shows:

27/08 - Bar Opinião - Porto Alegre
28/08 - John Bull Music Hall - Curitiba
18/09 - Teatro da UFPE - Recife
19/09 - Centro de Convenções - Fortaleza
24/09 - Teatro Paulo Pontes - João Pessoa
26/09 - Concha Acústica - Salvador
02, 03 e 04/10 - Auditório Ibirapuera - São Paulo
09/10 - Circo Voador - Rio de Janeiro
04/12 - Teatro do Hotel Brasília Alvorada - Brasília
05/12 - Freegells Music - Belo Horizonte

Her mini jam session singing Malemolencia from her 2007 album gives you a flavor of her essence.

Sounds of Muqueca de Siri: Samba Radio

2009-08-06T18:59:00.003+01:00

If you are flipping through your ipod looking for some new music, Muqueca de Siri's site is a great way to discover something different. Conrad Rose, VJ for his Samba Radio podcasts at Muqueca de Siri, gives listeners a weekly compilation of his favorite music. Global Samba got the inside scoop from Conrad on how he chooses his music and his upcoming projects. Check out the audio interview on Muqueca de Siri:

(music details of interview)
song: diplomata, composer: pixinguinha, players: silvério pontes and zé da velha

Have any cool favorite music you want to share?!

Samba Style Series - Part 2: Axé

2009-08-04T17:54:00.004+01:00

Samba Axé is a recently developed style that debuted in the early '90's in Salvador de Bahia. Axé (pronounced like A-shay) came out of a combination of street parades and musicians integrating sounds from jazz and afro-Brazilian drumming. Native Bahia musician like João Gilberto and Gilberto Gil were huge contributors to developing music.

Axé is an upbeat solo dance, the movements are similar to Samba no pé, however are more grounded and aerobic. As Samba Axé becomes more popular with music artists, including Daniela Mercury, and the young people of Bahia, new combinations and movements are created.

Here is an example of Samba Axé movements...

...and an all time favorite song by Gilberto Gil, Toda Menina Baiana!!!...

Have any great examples of Samba Axé dancing or music you want to share?

Capturing Samba and the essence of Brazil

2009-08-02T18:24:00.013+01:00

The great thing about meeting new people is hearing their story and getting their perspective. Elias Coory has a unquie perspective which he expresses through photography and video. We recently had the pleasure of meeting Eli, who's love of photography and video has taken him just about everywhere in the world, including London where he currently resides. As a lead bateria drummer, speaker of multiple languages including Portuguese, and a journalist at Reuters in his past life, he combines his passion for exploration with samba!

Eli captured the energy from the Queen of the Bateria competition in London last week. We'll be adding it to the London's Queen of the Bateria post. Check out the final dance with Henrique da Silva, President of Paraiso Samba School, before the winner is crowned.

Here are a few of our favorite photographs from Eli's travels across Brazil. You will see Eli's work on Global Samba as he will be a contributor from time to time. To see where in the world Eli has been, check out his site at www.photosfromlondon.com

From right to left: Rio Carnaval 2008, Fortaleza, Transcoso

Brazilian Music Matters: Up Close and Personal with LoungeBR

2009-08-01T00:16:00.005+01:00

We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Rodrigo Santiago who started the very cool Brazilian music site LoungeBR. He shares his perspective on Brazilian music and talks about some of his musical inspirations.

"The idea of LoungeBR was to create a Brazilian music bookshelf." So if you are looking for some João Pinheiro or Cartola, Rodigo's podcasts are packed with cultural context, insight and a great combination of music.

***
Global Samba: What inspired you to start LoungeBR?

Rodrigo: Several things inspired me. First of all, I am a composer myself. I use to listen lots of different songs from the many composers in Brazil to study their work, and this brought me the will to share these wonderful songs with people. A year ago I met Maestro Billy on the web, a great producer who lives in São Paulo and maintains a podcast about pop music in portuguese language. His podcast is huge and popular, but it lacks many of the greatest and less known brazilian songs, since it is focused in pop music. I know people all around the world who loves brazilian music, so that's why I've chosen to record it in english, an idiom which I love. That helps me to study it also. Besides, I have a fully functional homestudio, which I mounted with the will of producing my own music in the future. And on the top of that, I am a systems analyst and a blogger. After all this, I couldn't escape having my own music website. So I put everything together and created LoungeBR.

Global Samba: In what way do you think Brazilian music has influenced, shaped or developed Brazilian culture? And cultures around the world?

Rodrigo: Brazilian culture was always about music and religion. Three different races were put together in an unkown and fascinating land, with different beliefs. There was no formal education to natives or africans, so that music was the only way to preserve their memory. No literature. No religious symbols allowed by the Catholic church. The portuguese language is the only one that has a word to express the feeling of missing something (the homeland, in this case): "saudade". This environment was highly poetic. Many strange stories about unnatural wild beings all time, everywhere. Many forbidden love stories among the miscigenation between three skin colors. Extreme heat and extreme cold in the same piece of land. A highly fertile earth that could grow anything you could seed on it. Time to wait for the crop. We had comfort, discomfort, time, passion, love and saudade. And the only way to express it, for most people, was through music.

Later, all other lands in America discovered their new music also, such as blues/jazz in USA. I think in Brazil it happened first, because the miscigenation happened in a much wider way, and this allowed us to get that valuable 'thing' in African rythms. We have dozens of very different and new rythms spread all over the country because of that.

This new music meant 'big news' all over the world. Villa Lobos brought it to classic music, while Tom Jobim and João Gilberto had a major impact in jazz music, since the Bossa Nova night in Carnegie Hall. Many big music stars, like Bill Evans, Michel Legrand and Sinatra himself, couldn't live without record some brazilian composers.

Global Samba: Who are some of your favorite music artists and how have they inspired you?

Rodrigo: During my childhood, Hermeto Pascoal was my neighbour. It lasted for 14 years, in Bairro Jabour, Rio de Janeiro. He is my major influence. Not because I went there to see him, but just because of the opposite - I didn't! When I fell in love with music, I couldn't stop listening to his songs, learning from that and feeling sorry about myself cause I didn't meet him personaly. He is some kind of harmonic and rythmic wizard, having many beautiful pieces such as Canção no Paiol de Curitiba or Ginga Carioca. His songs are mostly inspired in Northeast rythms, such as Baião and Maracatu. He was born there. Another major influence is Guinga. His harmonies are something to study A LOT! I had already the pleasure to have him as my music advisor. He's making yet another very different kind of music. I am also highly influenced by progressive rock broken rythms - Rush and Gentle Giant songs mainly. Bossa Nova from Jobim and João Gilberto, Egberto Gismonti's songs and Yamandu Costa are also in my heart. And jazz, of course: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Sarah Vaughan... Together with the jazzy electronic music, such as Saint Germain, Jazzanova, Cafe Del Mar and a little of house and trance music.

Global Samba: What can LoungeBR followers anticipate from you next?

Rodrigo: I am expecting to make more podcasts a week, bringing pop music also. I got closer to a successful record label in Rio called Saladesom records, and we are planning to make videos and interviews. They are recording my wife's first album, the singer Manu Santos. She is a very good singer, and she's already recorded two of my songs that I'll feature here in the future. I want to get closer to other brazilian music lovers and producers over the web and work something out together with them (you guys, for example). I'll also post some of my compositions in LoungeBR, just to share some of my own music with people all around the world.

***

Wow, I'm inspired! Thank you Rodrigo for sharing your knowledge and clear passion for music with us. We hope to see you back again on Global Samba.

London's Queen of the Bateria

2009-07-29T18:35:00.009+01:00

Last night at Cargo in London, 7 girls battled it out for the title of Queen of the 2009 Paraiso Samba School Bateria.

Also known as Rainha da Bateria (Queen of the Drums). The queen is chosen to represent either a particular school (in this case Paraiso) and/or the whole carnaval for a city (Rio for example).
Judges included Marc Almond and several dance coreographers. The winner was Sharon Forbes, local Londoner and committed dancer of Paraiso school. After winning she said, "I'm shocked and speechless. Thank you!"

The event was buzzing with energy from the non stop bateria drumming and support from Henrique da Silva founder of Paraiso School of Samba.

London's Notting Hill carnaval is coming up August 30-31 where Queen of the Bateria, Sharon, will be debuting her new crown.

***
Addition of Eli Coory's video of the last dance before the queen was crowned:

Samba Style Series Part 1: Samba No Pé

2009-07-26T16:22:00.010+01:00

The Samba Style Series will bring you a brief intro to various styles of samba.

In part 1 we'll take a look at the high energy samba no pé (samba on your feet) which is the most common samba style danced in Rio's Carnaval. Its a solo dance that moves with the beat of the bateria drums. Some claim samba no pé was the original samba dance. The relationship between the music and the dancer brings samba no pé to life.

While it is a solo dance, guys and girls can dance together. Typically you will see guys dancing around the girl doing jumps and turns while the woman will also do fancy footwork at a fast pace. The samba movement for men is with flat feet and arms at their sides. For women, the movement is typically on the ball of the foot as its danced in heels and arms can be at the side and above the head for extra flare.

Quenia Ribeiro, professional dancer, instructor and choreographer teaches in New York and has a series of DVDs that will teach you the basics and make you sweat! Check out her amazing website which discusses the culture of samba and how it has developed in the neighborhoods of Rio. We'll definitely be referencing her fantastic work in future series.

Samba is truly an integral part of Brazilian culture, many learn the dance when they are young and over time new movements emerge. Even Ronaldinho, the oh so famous Brazilian soccer player can inspire us to dance samba no pé as he sometimes does a samba victory dance after scoring a goal! (watch Ronaldinho in Ronaldinho Samba Brasil video for highlights)