ZambaBem Dances & Sambatuka
Australia / Brazil
Samba de Roda Dance Workshop
Here’s your chance to learn the basics of Samba, a style of music and a type of dance whose origins lie in Brazil’s intertwined history of colonialism and slavery. The word ‘samba’ is thought to possibly come from a West African word ‘semba’, meaning a navel thrust, or a kind of physical invitation, an intimate movement possibly connected to religious and community celebrations in an African homeland. In the 16th Century, Portuguese traders brought West African enslaved men and women to the state of Bahia in Brazil.
Considered a cultural heritage of Brazil and of Humanity, Samba de Roda is a cultural expression occurring throughout the north eastern State of Bahia in Brazil, with variations in historical, social and ecological characteristics. It is most prominent in the Recôncavo Baiano, the region around Todos os Santos Bay.
ZambaBem Dances seeks to represent the rich artistic and educational folklore of Brazil. Founder Clo Mudrik, from Sao Paulo, has a fiery need to share and expand the Samba artform with a blend of dance, music, theatre and circus. An engaging teacher, she is committed to using dance/movement and rhythm as part of a holistic education.
Sambatuka is a percussion group led by Flavio Perez Caveirinha, an Argentinian who is a researcher of Brazilian rhythms as well as a teacher at TMA Adelaide (Capoeira Angola).