The Roots of Samba: A Beating Celebration of Afro-Brazilian Heritage
Samba; a swaying, beating celebration of Brazilian culture and pride that breathes through the vibrant carnivals of Rio, strutting all over the world in its multiple styles. This beautiful representation of heritage was once discriminated against by the Brazilian authorities as being “too black”.
Traditional Afro-Brazilian samba dance may be simple – an effortless weight-shift step to step and hip sway – but its origins and history are anything but.
Samba’s rhythm is rooted in the rich musical heritage that African slaves brought with them during their forced migration to Brazil from the 16th to the 19th century. When African slaves arrived in Bahia, Brazil, they brought the West African “batuque” and other circle dances, which then influenced the “lundu” dance. Eye-catching and sensual, the “lundu” would eventually feed into what became called “samba”. The word itself likely comes from the Kimbundu (Angola) word “semba”, a circle-dance with choreography reminiscent of the “batuque”. By the 1920s, samba began emerging prominently in the cultural melting pot of Rio de Janeiro, where European styles such as the polka and French dances helped shape a variant called the “maxixe” – a Brazilian-style couple dance derived from “lundu” and polka. The maxixe became one of Brazil’s first truly urban popular dances and decisively influenced the creation of samba as a specific genre. Samba’s original roots in the “samba de roda” – a communal Afro-Brazilian gathering of music, dance and spiritual expression – were expressed through its growing relationship to Carnival, though only after overcoming serious oppression.
During the early 20th century, Brazilians began associating their culture and national identity with samba music. While samba was not officially outlawed by name, it was heavily criminalised in practice; authorities raided gatherings, confiscated instruments, and arrested musicians (“sambistas”) under vagrancy laws and other repression aimed at black and poor people. The authorities used derogatory terms such as “malandro” for samba-practitioners, viewing them as deviants – however the term “malandro” has since gone on to become a symbol for the Brazilian spirit of resilience. During the era of the Getúlio Vargas regime (1930s) and later the military dictatorship (1964-1985), black cultural expression including samba came under surveillance, censorship and repression. Meanwhile, an elite, stylised version of samba was enjoyed without such threat of police raids, reflecting the racial and class divide.
However, the genre continued to fight. The first recognised samba school in Brazil emerged around 1928 in Rio, aiming to promote samba as a symbol of Brazil’s African heritage for everyone. Samba schools evolved into the modern “escolas de samba”, now pillars of Carnival culture. In the 1930s the Brazilian government, seeking to foster national unity, began promoting samba as part of the country’s cultural identity. The first large-scale samba parade at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro took place in 1933. Since then, Carnival has become an annual major event in Brazil, and samba, its signature dance.
Written by Ben Lynch (@Ben_Lynch__)
Edited by Alex Kelleher (@alex_kelleher_)
