What is Samba?

Samba was created by African people in Brazil from the music and dance culture they brought from Africa. Samba music is very similar to and has been influenced by many music genres, as well as many other Latin American music genres and dances.

The term “samba” originally referred to any of several Latin duet dances with origins from the Congo and Angola. Today Samba is the most prevalent dance form in Brazil, and reaches the height of its importance during the festival of Carnaval. There is actually a set of dances, rather than a single dance, that define the Samba dancing scene in Brazil; however, no one dance can be claimed with certainty as the “original” Samba style.