What is Samba?

Samba is a Brazilian musical genre and dance style, with its roots in Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, particularly of Angola and the Congo, through the samba de roda genre of the northeastern state of Bahia, from which it derived. Although there were various forms of samba in Brazil in the form of various popular rhythms and regional dances that originated from drumming, samba as a music genre is seen as originally a musical expression of urban Rio de Janeiro, then the capital and largest city of Imperial Brazil. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival. Considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions, samba has become an icon of Brazilian national identity. The Bahian Samba de Roda (dance circle), which became a UNESCO Heritage of Humanity in 2005, is the main root of the samba carioca, the samba that is played and danced in Rio de Janeiro. Samba no pé means samba on the feet. It comes from the favelas of Brazil, and it accurately depicts the distinct heritage of the Brazilian people. This type of samba is commonly danced impromptu whenever samba music comes on.