It's the all out party dance -- the sexy Samba!. With it's origins in the Carnival celebrations in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, it is fast, feisty, full of hip action and the national dance of Brazil. Ballroom Samba is danced in 2/4 time with 2 beats per bar, but 3 steps to every bar. The basic step is a box step, just like Rumba. But the unique character of Samba is achieved though a different timing (demonstrated in the video.) In Rumba we count "slow, quick, quick" In Samba, reversing this count to "quick, quick, slow" give us the characteristic hiccup called "samba pulse, " a different movement from the Cuban Motion used when dancing Rumba or other Latin dances.
Video 1 shows the basic box step for the gentleman and the lady, then describes Samba's different technique compared to Rumba. Finally it demonstrates one of the most common mistakes dancers make in Samba. Video 2 shows the Samba danced to music, featuring basic steps plus more advanced patterns like Copacabanas, Paulistas, Espirals, Com Pasos and Volta Release.
To see this dance done to music, see Video 2 below.
