Is your dance card full?

Rio is all about Samba.

Nothing says ´Hello Rio´ like Samba, the national dance that is broadcast all over the world from the famous Samba Drome that is home to the amazing Carnival. This festival takes place in February and I would have loved to have been there, but just missed it. These guys can moooooove and they make it look so easy, so smooth and so darn sexy! So what better way to NOT make a fool of myself when I go out and try to emulate the locals? I need to learn how to do it.

Some of you know that I did latin dance lessons a few years ago which included the samba amongst the 6 styles that were on the menu. All I can say is that it is best to throw those 3 months of lessons out the window and start over because this Samba is nothing like what I was taught. This is street samba, real samba that does not get showcased on a dancing TV show – this samba is feeling the music, improvising and enjoyment. 

Off to lessons I go

So I found a place on Tripadvisor that was a 1 hour lesson followed by entrance to a club to practice your moves. I wasn’t sure if I was OK about going to a club and being on public display after 1 hour of lessons but off I trotted.  The class was a mix of five people who were on a cruise ship docked in town for the night (2 of whom were the ballroom teachers on the ship), a couple from the Netherlands and a British girl working in Chile as an Egnlish teacher who was on holidays in Rio.

We had two teachers, both younger guys and one who looked more experienced than the other and who spoke better English.  They taught us two different kinds of Samba. Very different to what I knew but it was really easy to pick up. One lady in the class had absolutely no idea poor love but the teachers were very patient.  

The dances were a little different to what I know

The first samba was what they basically do if you are dancing with a person opposite each other not really knowing them. It’s done with a little bit of space between you and it’s always to fast music. This is basically what the dancers do for up to 86 minutes straight in the samba drome for Carnivale. These Carnivale dancers are ridiculously fit because their music is always fast and they are on show the entire time. 

The second was more of a dance when its slower music and you and your partner dance together (called Forro). This was easier and I found it similar to the salsa style dancing I know – but it’s still really different. Just easier for me to pick up as I know the style.  For the most part the whole class preferred this second method and we manage to accomplish both styles in over an hour before heading off in a mini van to the club.

The club is in a suburb called Lapa. This  area is the place to see and be seen, this is where the nightlife happens and this is where you want to go out and have some great nights with friends.  Pop this on your dance card.

So we arrive at the club, the name of which escapes me. Given it’s a Wednesday night it’s not busy by Rio standards but busy enough for us. We go inside this three story, well restored European looking building which is fabulously up-lit from the front and discover that inside it has also been really well decked out. It was like a display of all things retro – set out in a very creative and unusual fashion that kept you looking from left to right and left again all night. You could easily miss so much as you walk by.

However being in events I immediately thought ´This would be a great place to have a party´ and got the camera out and looked like a horrid tourist. But I loved it. 

A great way to pay

Our teachers took us through to the bar so we could grab a beverage – for courage no doubt. The way it works here and in a number of other restaurants and bars in Brazil is that you are given a menu card when you arrive. This lists all the F&B that is available for purchase through the night with prices noted. Each time you ordered something the waiter added a tick next to that item on the bill and we all paid for our individual bills when we left at the end of the night. What a great way of managing this –  it’s just one payment when you leave. There’s something in this, I like it.

I also like the drinks you got. I of course went straight for the Vodka with coke. And a vodka I did get. Check this out. I could have just said a coke on the side please. 

After we all downed our beverages we meandered through the whole building checking out all the amazing parts to it, and ended up in a room at the back to watch a local samba band that was playing. The show was mostly drummers and a couple of dancers but was great to get a feel for the music and it got my feet a-tappin’ so it was a good vibe.

As everyone else was watching, the female dance teacher from the ship and I starting busting a few dance moves to the amusement of our classmates and the teachers. The gents gave us a few pointers so that we could get it a bit more in sync with the footwork but all in all a good start. 

Time to dance (for real) in public

We then proceeded downstairs to the main dance area where a great band had been playing all night and we all danced the night away. The guys were really good at making sure they divided their time with all the students so we could get some time on the dance floor just having a go. Again, they were very very patient. I noticed that there were a few learners like us around, very tentative to get onto the floor, so this must be a club that is pretty safe for beginners to come to.

Later in the night the locals started to arrive (they tend to go out from 1.00am onwards, not hard considering you don’t even think of eating dinner till at least 10.00pm).

Overall, we were all pretty happy that we remained standing, toes and egos  in tact and more importantly our teachers feet were in tact and we all went home with music in our ears, joy in our hearts pretty happy with our efforts. 

Travel is the best.