Samba is a Brazilian dance and music culture that is strongly informed by African influence. Historically tightly connected to slavery, occupation and migration, today’s Samba oscillates between extremes: Practised in many regional forms in Brazil, it was popularized, for example, by Rio’s Carnival, and its inclusion as competitive dance into the World Dance Program during the 1960s is also part of its history. Typical stylistic elements in samba dancing are isolation and the polycentrism of individual body parts, especially the hip. The samba, as a couple’s dance, as a solo dance or in a group (as danced at tanzhaus nrw) has a strong pull and is pure joy of life, as is another Brazilian cultural technique: Capoeira. Capoeira is a martial arts dance with roots that stretch deep into Brazil’s colonial era, too. Central elements are the fight, the music and the “roda” (Portuguese for “circle”), practised by rules and rituals that are orally traded. At this time, tanzhaus nrw only offers Capoeira exclusively for youths.
