Semba Tech

From the publication - The Dance Technician:
Three of the most popular fundamental actions in the Samba are, the Samba Walks, Bota Fogos and Voltas. Each having many variations in their own right and loaded with lots of technical aspects to give them each an individual feeling of their own.

There is lots to study about these figures but for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on the third step which I often see being danced in a sloppy way — many times dancers will dance this third step as a replacement in all three figures. Probably because by the time they get to the third step they feel they’ve done all the body action they can squeeze out and this final step doesn’t really matter.

" Chica Chica Boom Chic" by Carmen Miranda

But I think it does. Foot to floor pressure (more, less or none) is the enabler of body action and musicality. Each one of these figures should allow you the opportunity to express your body to the music differently. Over one bar of music they are all the same basic timing of ”1 a 2”, but with correct technique and footwork can be expressed quite differently.

Gawd! that is difficult for most of us mortals to comprehend.

And many people still believe that the samba was brought over from Africa, when they couldn't even bring their own language for any extent. This was all done by the slave owners to limit the communication among the slaves. Many could not even speak to each other. They learned a pidgin Portuguese with a few African and Indian words. Ninety Nine point 99 percent of the music and dance was learned from the Native Indians that had been slightly modified by the Portuguese.

"Manha De Carnaval" by Placido Domingo

A major stream of the Samba dance besides Ballroom Samba is in the Brazilian Samba dancing styles danced in Brazil, much of it in the rest of Latin America, and which differ significantly. This style does not have to be done with a partner in closed hold or open positions. The man will lead but the ladies like always can follow beautifully. The move most used is the Chassé.

 "The Girl From Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto  and Stan Getz

Most "social partner" dances have one basic step. The one they start with to get in sync and the one to come back to when you do one, two or three different figures. Ballroom Samba has four or five different basics installed in the heydays of the Ballroom Dance Teachers. The main thing in any dance should be to enjoy moving to your favorite music which may be difficult if you get the wrong disc jockey.with LAGS (the Latest And Greatest Syndrome)