Between next month’s Rio Olympics and the recent announcement of the 2016-17 season’s revisitation of the Latin short dance, it may finally be time to turn our eyes to that most complex of Latin dances: the samba.
A quick look at its overall history is useful and highlights certain of its historical complexities. Note that Brazilian samba has a somewhat march-like quality courtesy of its 2/4 tempo and includes both solo (like Samba no pé) and partnered (such as Samba de Gafieira) forms, quite distinct in both cases from its Latin ballroom namesake — so tracing its connections to on-ice samba is an exercise, to say the least.
With their 2011-12 Latin short dance which includes a batucada percussion piece — traditional for Brazilian samba — Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat opted for a breezy vibe suggestive of a visit to Rio.
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