Samba

Samba encompasses a family of Brazilian dance and music styles with African roots, most famously associated with the annual Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro. The dance form that most people associate with the word — samba no pe (samba at the feet) — features a distinctive rapid bouncing step driven by the quick transfer of weight from one foot to the other, creating a characteristic hip sway that has become one of the most recognized dance movements in the world.

Samba's roots lie in the African traditions brought to Brazil by enslaved people, particularly the semba of Angola, the batuque drum circles of Bahia, and the maxixe that emerged in Rio's dance halls in the late nineteenth century. The modern Carnival samba developed in the favelas and working-class neighborhoods of Rio during the early twentieth century, organized through samba schools (escolas de samba) that function as community cultural organizations. Each school spends the entire year preparing its Carnival presentation — a massive parade featuring thousands of dancers, musicians, and elaborately decorated floats. Beyond Carnival, samba exists in numerous forms: samba de roda (circle samba), pagode (informal backyard samba), samba-cancao (lyrical samba), and the ballroom competition samba that has been adapted into the International Latin syllabus.