Samba in the city

“There’s defi nitely a stigma about samba being very sensual that makes some people wary of it.”-Brazilian dancer Marta Santos.[Photo/Shanghai Star]

While other countries in Asia have long swayed to the heady rhythms of this sexy, sticky South American dance, China is still playing catch-up. Matt Hodges finds a few Brazilian dancers run off their feet due to the World Cup.

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Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, which usually runs in February, ranks right up there with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games as one of the greatest shows on earth. Most people are familiar with the stock images of rival samba schools vying for attention in the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Sambadrome on decorated floats. The pictures of bronzed dancers in bikinis and feathered headdresses tend to stick in the mind.

Ditto for the kinetic soundtrack. Percussionists, guitarists and brass musicians on trumpets and trombones provide the jittery beats and uplifting rhythms.

But while salsa classes are easy to find in Shanghai these days, there isn’t one official samba school here. Online searches for teachers also lead nowhere.

Chinese still favor the elegant gowns and controlled rhythms of salsa over the exposed flesh, gyrating bellies and primordial sexuality of samba. But fast food brands, broadcasters and even local water parks have already been hit by samba fever in their bid to cash in on the World Cup.

“For Brazilian dancers and musicians now is a good time to make extra money,” says Brazil’s Andriza Freitas, who is in her early 30s. Freitas teaches a mixture of traditional and folk dances because, on its own, “samba is still too sexy for Shanghai”.

On the cusp of the opening ceremony of the World Cup last week, she had three performances booked in Shanghai. In April she went on a three-stop tour of China with CCTV, giving shows at tourist hot spots like Xiamen. Last month saw her involved in a World Cup shoot for a Chinese sports lottery company.