History of Samba Dance
Samba, like many Latin American dances, has African roots. In the 16th century, many slaves were brought to Brazil from the Congo and Angola, who spread their culture on the territory of South America. Thanks to the slaves in Brazil, there were three African acts - Embolada, Catarete and Batuqué. At that time the church considered such dances to be depraved and unacceptable, since during the dance its performers touched each other with their navels.
In the process of the Embolada, the performers portrayed a cow with horns decorated with balls. Today the name of this dance in Brazil means "stupid". Batuqué is a show in a circle, its movements are similar to the elements of the Charleston, and inside the circle there is often a dancing couple. Batuqué became a very popular dance, even to the point that the King of Spain issued a decree banning his execution. This decision led to the emergence of Lundu, whose movements were borrowed from two forbidden currents.
In order for the higher society to be able to use the permitted version, a closed position was included in the dance, which at that time was the only possible one. The action itself was changed a little to make it easier for the audience to perceive the show. The new version was called Zemba Queca.
That's how the combination of different dances contributed to the emergence of a new rhythmic and temperamental show called samba. In general, the word "Zambo" characterized children born from African Americans and Brazilian female mulattoes. Samba was like a "child" of African dances in Brazilian performance.
Europe learned about samba in the 1920s. The dance gained popularity only after the Second World War. The well-known version of samba, which is taught today in all the choreographic institutions, appeared already in 1956.
Samba dance - photo
Samba is performed at a fast pace to the sounds of folk Brazilian instruments: tamborim, cabaca, reco-reco and others. This Latin American dance has a musical size of 2/4, and music consists of 48-54 cycles per minute. An important role in samba is played by rhythm. Under it, the performers are adjusted with the help of hip movement, without which the samba can not be imagined.
The hips during the performance perform peculiar springy elements, which acquired their specific name bouns (samba bounce) - they are not used in any other dance. Bounces are vertical swings from side to side. During the execution of the bounce, plastic movements are combined with sharp movements. This contrast perfectly conveys the spirit of the Spanish people - a soft and at the same time temperamental.
Learn to dance samba step by step
Now let's look at the basic steps of the Samba dance on the photo. Remember: in Samba, as in all Latin American dances, the leading is the man, and the woman is the slave.
- The initial position of the dance is as follows: the man puts his right hand on the woman's back, and the left one in the half-bent state pulls the palm upwards to the side, the woman - puts her right hand with the palm of the hand down the man's hand and holds it by the left hand with his left arm.
- A man always begins to walk in dance with his left foot, and a woman - with the right.
- Base for men: step with your left foot forward, then place the right one on it, without changing the weight distribution and not transferring the center of gravity to your right foot. Now stay standing still and move your weight from the left foot to the right one, and from the right foot to the left one. This movement will visually look like the movement of the hips from side to side with the body stationary.
- Well, now step back with your right foot and put your left foot to it. The basic male movement is over. As you can see, it consists of three main elements: steps forward, carrying weight from foot to foot, steps back.
- Now consider the movement of a woman. They are masculine. First we take a step backwards with the right foot and put the left one to it. The upper part of the body is left fixed and quickly carry weight from foot to foot - first from the right to the left leg, and back.
- Then you have to step forward with your right foot and put your left foot to it.
If you want to continue studying the base, then you will be helped by the video lessons of dances samba for beginners. Just look at the famous choreographers, and try to repeat the movements in front of the mirror.
Kinds of samba - bright videos
In fact, in addition to the ball version of samba, there are other types of samba.
The first is called samba nu ne (samba on the feet). This kind of dance is used during the carnival, when the dancers ride on the van and demonstrate seductive movements. You can safely say that samba nu ne is a solo dance. If the partners want to perform it on stage in a pair, they keep at a distance from each other.
The second direction is samba de gafieira - social dance, consisting of movements of Mimiche (Brazilian tango) and waltz. Gafieira is a dance class.
Samba de gofeyra is very similar to another direction - the weather, but in the weather there are absolutely no acrobatic tricks, without which it is impossible to perform samba de gofeyre.
Another common species is Samba Ashe. She combined the movements of samba nu ne and elements of aerobics. Samba Ashe is performed either solo or in a group.
Another direction differs execution in a circle - this is samba de sorta. This kind of dance is the most ancient. Previously, the dance looked like this: a man accompanies, and a woman dances, clapping at the same time. And it could be otherwise: a woman and a man create musical sounds, and in the circle one or two samba performers dance.
And, of course, the most famous kind of samba is ball. She is part of the group of sports paired dances and is an indispensable part of the program of Latin American dances. This action is characterized by expressiveness and incendiary thigh movements.
As you can see, the samba is a real show, and it is danced all over the world. Whether it's a themed party or a big stage - the performers always look very bright.