|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Samba across the globeThe samba, an utterly Brazilian art form, has, in recent years, become an irrepressible musical force across the world. Samba percussion is now regarded as the community art form par excellence. From Sweden to Japan, from France to Israel, professionals and aficionados have joined forces to recreate the collective abandon of the blocos and escolas. In the UK alone there are more than 100 groups playing some form of samba, meeting regularly to beat out their rhythms on the surdo and tamborim, practice their dance steps and prepare for the local carnival parade.
Some are small percussion workshops, others form huge parades modeled on the classical forms of Rio, with 200-strong baterias and dancers of all types, Bahianas and Passistas all moving to the sound of a specially composed story-samba. In Helsinki, there is a carnival devoted entirely to samba where a select few of the hundreds of Scandinavian bands take to the streets. Street parades across the US are set alight by the American escolas; San Francisco alone boasts 10 or more samba groups. Mexicans, Italians, Austrians, Germans, Danes, all have fallen under the spell of the samba, getting together at regular encontros to share techniques, learn from Brazilian mestres and celebrate their particular brand of samba.
Many groups are striving to produce their own sound by incorporating such influences as jazz, Jamaican reggae and even Punjabi bhangra. The development of samba-jungle rhythms in London and beyond demonstrates that groups are often committed to innovation as well as celebration.
It’s not hard to see why the samba school idea has proved so popular. Providing a focus for collective activity, the samba carnival is open to all who want to participate, a non-stop creative party. Whether struggling with the complex batucada rhythms, building carros alegóricos, sewing bahiana skirts or cooking a feijoada, making a parade involves a group effort where for one day in a year the streets of Tokyo, Brighton and Berlin ring to the irresistible rhythms of the samba.
You can find out about samba worldwide through the Internet and email. The UK samba website is at:
To subscribe to the UK samba email address, contact tardis.ed.ac.uk and send on sambistas@tardis.ed.ac.uk. 
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
