What is Samba de Gafieira?
Samba de Gafieira (these days it's also called simply 'Gafieira') is the couple dance version of Samba. It seems very different from the solo version but its large number of possibilities of moves usually seduces lots of social dance enthusiastics.
Historically it appeared in the social balls in the first half of 20th century. It's known that Samba de Gafieira came from another dance called Maxixe and that Maxixe became a forbbiden dance for being considered socially offensive. When Samba entered the balls it brought plenty of African elements such as the traditional percussion intruments. For the ballroom dance it brought a new attitude more connected to the Samba soul, full of improvisation and fancy use of the legs.
Are there other Brazilian social dances?
Yes. In Brazil there are many ballroom dance schools (called 'Dança de Salão') although the main focus has always been in the social practice instead of competition. The most popular rhythms danced in the nights of Rio nowadays are Forró, Zouk and Samba de Gafieira.
Forró is a kind of music and dance from northeastern Brazil. It's very popular all around the country and in Rio it's easy to find events with live bands and couples dancing. Its basic steps are easy and some people learn it without the need of lessons, but in advanced levels and fast paces it is a dance full of spins and energetic movements.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A QUICK FORRÓ VIDEO.
Zouk (a.k.a. Brazilian Zouk) is a dance that, in its essense, came from another dance called Lambada, which was a very famous rhythm during the early '90. Once Lambada music stopped to be atractive among the 'non-dancers' the artist stopped doing new song. The dancers found Zouk music from the Caribbeans and Kizomba music from Angola as a way to keep dancing the Lambada moves. Nowadays it's danced not only on traditional Zouk and Kizomba music but also on R&B, Reggatton and other styles that follow the same beat.
