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 There are few countries around the world in which dance takes a center stage role in modern society. In dazzling Brazil, a country that covers nearly half the continent of South America with a population of around 180 million, making it the fifth most populous country in the world, dance serves functional, religious, as well as artistic ends.
On any given day in Brazil, one might find capoeira practitioners practicing their traditional martial art form in the streets of Salvador; or long-legged beauties in Rio de Janeiro making their way to rehearsal at one of the many Escolas de Samba (samba schools). This passion for dance and movement comes to an almost overwhelming climax during the largest party of the year, when teeming masses travel the world over to witness the grand spectacle that is Brazilian Carnaval. Historically, Carnaval is a five day "final hurrah" of excess and debauchery before the beginning of the 40 day atonement period known as Lent in the Catholic religious tradition. In the U.S., we have the famed New Orleans Mardi Gras, while other regions of the world such as the Caribbean and Venice, Italy have acclaimed Carnaval celebrations as well. However, none can compare with the grand scale of Carnaval in Brazil, where the entire country seems to shut down and seemingly every citizen takes some part in the preparation for Brazil's big event of the year. During Carnaval season, samba music and dance is everywhere. People dance the samba in the streets and professionals perform the samba on massive floats for millions of spectators. Samba is a frenetically paced dance that one almost always dances to traditional samba music. The basic samba step is a simple three step movement. Starting with the feet together, the right foot steps forward on one, the left foot steps in place on two while the right steps back to meet the left foot on three. We repeat the movement on the other side, leading with the left foot. The basic step is quite simple, but becomes much more challenging as the musical pace increases, and the dancer adds his or her own sensual arm and hip movements. Samba increases in difficulty when performed on the balls of the feet, sometimes in very high heels, in elaborate costumes and exquisite headdresses. In addition to the popular dance form of samba, a variety of dance and martial art traditions find their origin in Brazil. The lambada, also known as the forbidden dance, was originally found in small bars and cafés called lambaterias where people used to dance, entwined seductively together. The lambada is traditionally danced to lambada music, which was influenced by Caribbean music, but is a melange of Caribbean drums, electric guitars, with an added touch of Spanish and even local Indian flavors. Unfortunately, the lambada lasted a very short time in Brazil, but was made truly famous in Europe when the French band, Kaoma, made the forbidden dance popular in 1989. Lambada took Europe by storm, then spread to Japan, the U.S. and the Middle East. It is rarely found today, but remains one of the most sensual and romantic forms of dance ever created. Lambada is also a three beat step with a "quick, quick, slow" rhythm. In the basic forward and back movement, the dancer steps forward with his/her left foot, with hips following to the left. On the second beat, the dancer steps forward with the right foot, hips following to the right. On the third and slow beat, the dancer completes the basic step with a slow move backward with the left foot. It is danced with the whole body, not just the lower half, as with salsa, and the dancers usually dance on their toes. This originated when the lambada was danced barefoot on the beaches of Brazil where the sand was so hot, that dancers could not step on the sand with their whole foot. Moving from pure dance to a mixture of martial art and dance, is Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art form developed as a means of self-defense. It was originally used by Angolan slaves to resist attempts to enslave them by the traders. Capoeira has evolved into a graceful semi-balletic art form somewhere between fighting and dancing and takes the form of a pair of dancer/fighters leaping and whirling in stylized "combat." The friendly yet competitive dance emphasizes foot techniques while players rely on acrobatic dodges and counter-strikes. Capoeiristas gather into rodas (circles) and provide musical accompaniment on the berimbau, the single stringed instrument associated with Capoeira. There are regular displays of Capoeira in the streets of Brazil, especially in Salvador, in the Northeastern state of Bahia. Maculelê, another traditional dance, was developed in the sugar cane fields by African slaves to entertain themselves. Each dancer holds a pair of sticks 12-20 inches in length. The rhythm is a beat of four. On the first three beats dancers hit their own sticks together or against the ground. On the fourth beat they hit their right stick with that of their partner. They are actually imitating the action of cutting sugarcane, and more experienced dancers use machetes instead of sticks. Today this dance is performed for strictly entertainment purposes, but during the Paraguayan War, it was actually employed in battle, much like Capoeira. On a more spiritual plane lies Candomblé, a religious tradition brought to Brazil by African slaves. Candomblé is a ritual of song, dance, and most importantly, spiritual communion. When plantation owners forbade their slaves to practice Candomblé rituals, (spiritual communion with African deities) its practitioners sought to preserve it by coupling their orixás (deities) with Catholic saints. Its followers traditionally dress in white and worship together in ecstatic dance rituals accompanied by lots of drumming and singing, while communicating with and make offerings to the spirits. In a central dance area, devotees dance for hours to induce the trance that allows the spirits to enter their own body, thereby inducing communion with the spiritual world. Brazil is overwhelmingly rich in dance culture and offers endless opportunities in the exploration of its authentic dance forms to anybody and everybody who wishes to embrace it! Aimee Christine Hughes has had articles published in several publications including The South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), The Traveller (UK), and Missouri Life, (U.S.). You can email her at
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Thanks for the beautiful dance descriptions.