Samba is a fun dance to watch and dance. It is not an easy dance to do, though, because of different body actions required from other Latin dances, say, rumba or cha cha. Its hip action, in particular, is quite different. When you see top professional couples dance samba, it looks easy because of their mastery of techniques. Here are two of my favorite videos. Both are from instructional videos in which they show choreographed routines first followed by detailed technical explanations.

Alan Tornsberg and Serena Lecca

Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnoff

History of Samba
Samba is a lively dance of Brazilian and African origin. It has been popular in Brazil as a street dance during carnivals. Ballroom samba has evolved over time and is now quite different from its original Brazilian street dance. You often see comments on Youtube samba video clips claiming that “what they are doing is not samba!” because ballroom samba has become quite stylized and looks different; however, ballroom samba still retain its original feel of the dance: joyfulness and overall upbeatness.

Syllabus Figures
According to USISTD (U.S. Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance) web site, the syllabus figures for International Latin Samba are:

Pre-Bronze/Student Teacher
1. Basic Movement
2. Whisks
3. Samba Walks
4. Rhythm Bounce
5. Volta Movements (Traveling & Spot)
6. Traveling Bota Fogos Forward
7. Criss Cross Bota Fogos (Shadow Bota Fogos)

Bronze/Associate
8. Traveling Bota Fogos Back
9. Bota Fogos to Promenade and Counter Promenade
10. Criss Cross Voltas
11. Solo Spot Volta
12. Foot Changes
13. Shadow Traveling Volta
14. Reverse Turn
15. Corta Jaca
16. Closed Rocks

Silver/Licentiate
Circular Volta
17. Open Rocks
18. Back Rocks
19. Plait
20. Rolling off the Arm
21. Argentine Crosses
22. Maypole
23. Shadow Circular Volta

Gold/Fellow
24. Contra Bota Fogos
25. Roundabout
26. Natural Roll
27. Reverse Roll
28. Promenade and Counter Promenade Runs
29. Three Step Turn
30. Samba Locks
31. Cruzados Walks and Locks

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