About samba:
Samba is the national symbol of Brazil, and it's appreciated worldwide. It's a fun and playful rhythm, doesn't matter if dancing, playing or listening to the music. There are many types of samba rhythms and samba dances. Samba is danced in couple or 'solo'.

Samba is basically a musical construction made with a binary time and a syncopated rhythm. On the top of this basic form all types of samba are formulated.

Its origin combines three different cultures: The Portuguese songs, african rhythms, and the fast paced Indian rituals. Originally it was played only with percussion instruments, and later it was added to many styles the acoustic guitar and the 'cavaquinho' (small guitar).

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The most famous types of samba music:

- Samba (generic) has a large variety and it's difficult to define, but it is played mostly with different percussion instruments, acoustic guitar and the 'cavaquinho' (small guitar). It is the easiest type of samba to dance in couples. The music can be energetic and melodic at the same time, and it has got more. Partido Alto (the oldest version), Balanco, Gafieira, are names often used to express this type of samba.

- Samba Enredo, played by Escolas de Samba, is a Carnival type Samba. These are samba schools with many participants, neighborhood associations that parade in Carnaval; the term school comes from the fact that the early sambistas used to rehearse in an empty lot near a teachers' college., It is a quick, powerful, and fun music. It's played for maximum effect. The strongest characteristic are the different drums playing together. Samba has become famous through Rio’s Carnival.

- Bossa Nova we translate to ‘new wave’, an apt name for a style of music which is ‘jazz-influenced samba’, born in the 1950s in Brazil. Bossa Nova is a softer, more relaxed style. Started out in Rio's Ipanema beach area; the rhythm was invented by Tom (Antonio Carlos) Jobim; the sound was eclipsed by the coming of The Beatles.

- Choro or Chorinho (which means crying, sobbing) is the original Carnaval music that was the precursor to samba that began in the favelas (slums) of Rio. This type of song with an element of melancholy is mainly instrumental using flute, guitar, miniature guitar (cavaquinho) and clarinet; polkas and waltzes overlaid by Afro-Brazilian syncopation producing a jazzy sound (like tropical Dixieland). The musicians improvise and test each other with a lot of creativity and ability. Villa-Lobos is one of the famous composers, that made the famous music "Os Choros".

- Samba de Pagode is a samba with a soaring dance rhythm; includes artists such as Agepe, Clara Nunes and Alcione, and bands like Raca Negra. It started many decades ago from the parties made in the backyard of the poor areas, where people used to play, sing, eat and drink. Most of Pagode's music talk about romantic themes, happiness and regrets. It came to the media by the 70's and 80's.

- Samba Rock is a modern mixture of samba and rock rhythms, singed mostly in portuguese. It got popular in Brazil, specially in São Paulo, since 2001.

- Samba de roda: One of the first expressions of samba. In a circle, one person starts the melody, while the others clap and answer with the 'atabaques' (type of drum).

- Samba breque (break samba): a type of samba that has a choppy, almost reggae rhythm.

- Samba cancão (balad-like): Doris Monteiro is one of the interpreters of this tradition.

- Samba de terreiro: linked to Afro-Brazilian religion.

- Samba Paulista: composer Adoniran Barbosa helped forge this style, named for his São Paulo home.

The most famous types of samba dance:

- Samba no Pé is a famous solo dance, showed very often in the television in the Carnival time. Men and women dance Samba no Pé in every Brazilian party where Samba music is playing, because it's impossible to listen to this fascinating rhythm without shaking into it. Samba no Pé is fun, beautiful and it's a good aerobic workout! The samba motions are some of the most sophisticated body motions human beings have ever seeing! It has got lot of syncopated footwork, shaky hips, and loose body. We have one main step and many jokes and variations.

- Samba de Gafieira is a stylish and creative couple dance. It is well known as The Brazilian Tango because of it's energetic movements and connection between the couple, with a difference that is danced to General Samba, Bossa Nova, Chorinho, and Pagode, making the dance and the environment much softer and happier! Karina says: "Samba de Gafieira is my favorite couple dance and I am very happy to be the first teacher to bring it to the Oslo community and transmit for all of you one of my biggest passions in life!".

- Pagode is popular particularly in São Paulo as a partner dance. Also beautiful, with shaky hips and footwork, but not so famous in the rest of Brazil.

- Samba Rock is a modern dance, with mixture of samba and rock steps. It got popular in Brazil, specially in São Paulo, since 2001.

- Samba de umbigada is maybe the oldest version of samba dance and not very famous nowadays. It's a circle dance, where one person dances a solo dance in the middle of the circle, and invites another person to substitute him, and so on. It's origin is from Africa, but this dance also happens in Portugal, with the Fandango and Lundu.

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Do you want to know more about samba's history?...

In the 16th century, the portuguese discovered on the east coast of South America, a place they called the January River (Rio de Janeiro). Colonists soon settled and as the colony prospered, slaves were brought from south-west Africa to work in the plantations of Bahia, in the north-east of what became Brazil.

To adherents of the Afro-Brazilian religion, Candomble, Samba means to pray, to invoke your personal orixa (god/saint). The African rhythms enveloped in Latino music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other West African people, who were transported to the New World as slaves. In their homeland the rhythms were used to call forth various gods. Candomble preserves these rhythms to this day! It is these rhythms that has heavily influenced Brazilian music making Samba a unique genre of music.

The native dances were considered sinful by the Europeans and at different times the authorities tried to suppress their popularity. Still, many in the colony became popular amongst both blacks and whites. The Batuque described as a circle dance with steps like the Charleston done to hand clapping and percussion, became so popular that the portuguese emperor Manuel I who fled to Brazil during the Napoleanic Wars, passed a law forbidding it!

A composite dance was developed in the 1830's which combined the plait figures from these Negro dances and the body rolls and sways of the indigenous Lundu. Later, carnival steps were included. This dance was modified and began to be performed with the dancers holding each other in the European way (closed dance position). Around 1885, it was adopted by high society in Rio, and popularized as the Zemba Queca. It was modified again and called the Mesemba.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Mesemba was combined with another Brazilian dance, the Maxixe and was popularized in the U.S.A and Europe. It has been described as having the steps of the Polka done to the music of the Cuban Habanera (from Havanna). The present day Samba still contains a step called the Maxixe, consisting of a chasse and point.

In the 1930s, a form of the Samba called the Carioca was revived in U.K and spread to the USA. Movies helped popularize it, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performing it in their first film together. In 1941, its popularity was boosted by performances by Carmen Miranda in her many films. However, the exorbitant fees paid to holders of US copyrights probably had a lot more to do with the rise in popularity of Latin music in the US and the world! To avoid the fees, US radio stations played Brazilian and other Latin music. To the chagrin of the US music industry, the audience loved it!

The Ballroom Samba, while maintaining elements of what the Brazilians consider the true Samba, was formalized in 1956 by Pierre Lavelle. Since then, various forms of Samba have been developed to fit the mood of modern music.

Click here to check out the schedule for Samba workshops & parties!