What is Samba?
Samba OlyWa performs a number of dances and rhythms. Most of them originate in Brazil, with roots and influences from the Americas, Africa, and Europe. Here are simplified descriptions of some of our dances/music. Our links page includes several websites with fuller explanations.
Samba
(from Wikipedia):
Samba's roots
come from Africa, mainly Angola, where the dance semba was a predecessor of
samba, and as importantly from Portugal and Europe, which made it possible
for the relatively intricate harmonies found in samba to be developed out of
European tradition.
Samba first appeared as a distinctive kind of music at the beginning of the 20th century in Rio de Janeiro (then the capital of Brazil) under the strong influence of immigrant black people from the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Samba
Reggae (from Wikipedia):
(pronounced HEH-ghe) is a new poppish type of samba from Bahia in Northern
Brazil. The rhythm is influenced by Reggaeton, Calypso and Latin melodies
Coco (from AllBrazilianMusic): Traditional dance style from the North and Northeast, its origins are not clear: slaves could have brought it from Africa, or it could be the result of a mix between native and African cultures. Although more cultivated along the coast, coco might have appeared in the countryside, following the rhythm produced when the coconuts were broken so as to extract the nuts.
Xaxado (from Aguas de Bahia): Sha-sha-do) A lively folk dance from the North East of Brazil in the Baião family. It grows out of life in the dry cangaço countryside. The name comes from the "sha-sha" sound of boots scraping the earth. The movements are brash and convey the enthusiasm of hard work and hard play
Frevo (from
AllBrazilianMusic): dance-driven march played in a very fast
tempo. The colorful parasols
carried by frevo dancers represent defense weapons.
Maracatu:
In order to coordinate the
management of Africans br
ought to Brazil as slaves on the first half of the
16th century, Portuguese settlers encouraged the institution of black kings
and queens protected by catholic fraternities.
The coronation pageants are
believed to have originated maracatu’s frolic music.
Baiao
(from Latin American Folk Institute):
The baião is a rhythm that although is
not very well known outside Brazil, has enormous influence over much of
modern Brazilian music. The traditional instrumental baião is a musical form
based on an anc
ient figure dance or ballroom dance of European origin. In
the Northeast region of Brazil this form was played by local bands that
performed in salons and in private parties and at different celebrations.
Ijexa (from PulseWave): pronounced "ee jay shah"), which is part of the Candomble' religion. The rhythm has had wide dissemination through the Carnaval group "Sons of Ghandi", one of the oldest and largest Afro groups to parade through the streets of Salvador Bahia, Brazil each year in the days before Ash Wednesday.
Lavagem
de Bonfim: This is a
dance choreographed for Samba Olywa by Dora Oleveira representing the annual
festival in Salvador de Bahia.
