Unlike the other Latin dances we teach, samba's history lies in Brazil.  The rhythm, mood, and

style are quite different from the other Latin dances.  Samba is a celebratory party dance, the

dance of Carnivale, and it has a characteristic rolling bounce action in its steps.  Samba is

GREAT for your calves...  and it's great for your soul, a dance of unbridled joy and revelry.

The version of samba that we teach is a cultural hybrid.  It combines a style of body movement

derived from Brazilian dance with patterns of foot movement based on the box structure of the

European family of dances.

Samba music is a similar speed to cha-cha - in fact, we encourage beginners who haven't met

samba to use samba music for a cha-cha rather than sitting down.  The difference between samba

and cha-cha music is subtle.  If you have musical background, you can spot it fairly easily: in

cha-cha, there's an emphasis on the quaver between beats; in samba, the emphasis is on the third

semi-quaver between beats.  For the rest of us, well, samba music just feels bouncy.  Here are

some great examples.

Aqua Brasilia
Harry Balafonte 'Jump in the line' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk3sLHZzZRI
John Paul Young 'love is in the air' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HswyA9tZD9I&feature=fvwrel
Django Django 'Default' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDjpOrlfh0Y
Crystal Fighters 'At home' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2MxcUo4J9I
Squirrel Nut Zippers 'hell' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uiYp8xKjLM