Prayer, in the context of the transplanted Congolese and Angolan practice, was usually accompanied by dance, the same type of dance we are familiar with today. As so often happened with unfamiliar traditions, European settlers in Brazil originally found the music and dance to be lascivious and sinful, but this perception led, in part, to the wider popularity of the dance, both among Afro-Brazilians and European Brazilians.
Although the samba was brought to Rio de Janeiro by immigrants from the Bahia region of Brazil, it quickly became the music of Rio itself. People in the poorer neighborhoods would band together into what they called “blocos” and would celebrate Carnaval in their own neighborhoods. Each ‘bloco’ would develop variations and their own distinctive style of dance.
Since samba was a dance that was relegated to the poorer neighborhoods, it consequently had the reputation of being the activity of the jobless and worthless. In an effort to lend some legitimacy and standing to the “blocos”, the “escola de samba” or “samba schools” were formed. The first documented samba school was Deixa Falar(Let them Speak), formed in 1928.
As samba schools grew, both in number and in popularity, the music was transformed to fit the feel of the Carnaval parade. This meant making percussion a dominant component of the music. These new percussion heavy bands were named baterias and thus the samba-enredo, the form of samba most famous via Rio’s Carnaval, was born.
But don’t be confused into thinking that a samba school is actually an institution of musical learning; rather, it is a musical organization. A typical samba schools can have several thousand members, although only the most talented will earn the right to perform in the big parade. These performers include singers, musicians, dancers and bearers of flags, banners and puppets.
There are many different types of samba. While samba-enredo is the samba performed at Carnival, some of the more popular form include the samba-cancao (samba song) which became popular in the 1950’s, and samba de breque, a form of samba that is choppier in form. Of course, as music becomes globalized (like everything else), the wonderful musical fusion that we see everywhere gives birth to samba-reggae, samba-pagode and samba-rock.
