2010 Carnavals

2010 will be another exciting year for carnavals. We can't wait to see the creative themes and costumes, as well as hear the songs from the world famous baterias. Start planning your travels with the updated Global Samba carnaval calendar. Carnavals across Brazil start Feb 13, 2010 and promises to provide amazing shows. Below is the specific line up for the Rio baterias:

Time	Sunday, Feb. 14th	Monday, Feb. 15th
21:00	Uniao da Ilha	Mocidade Independente
22:05 - 22:20	Imperatriz Leopoldinense	Porto da Pedra
23:10 - 23:40	Unidos da Tijuca	Portela
00:15 - 01:00	Unidos do Viradouro	Academicos do Grande Rio
01:20 - 02:20	Academicos do Salgueiro	Unidos de Vila Isabel
02:25 - 03;40	Beija-Flor de Nilopolis	Estacao Primeira de Mangueira

Click here for comprehensive details about Rio carnaval. And more on Salvador carnaval.

Read more...

Brazilians in New York

Global Samba just got back from New York and we had a great time. You may remember our interview with Quenia Ribeiro, Brazilian samba professional and guru. Well, we got to meet her in person. Her samba class was so much fun!, we danced Rio and samba reggae styles. She is a ball of energy and super sweet!

We briefly talked about the carnival parade which happens on W 46th street (Little Brazil) in September. Quenia mentioned she participates, however it doesn't have a large presence.
Why so small for the Big Apple? Where are all the Brazilians in New York?!

This question got me thinking about the history of Brazilians migrating to New York. Maybe understanding the history would shed some light on why the largest and most famous parade known to Brazilians is fairly small there. Luckily, Dr. Maxine Margolis asked the same historical question in the 1980's and wrote a book about her research entitled, Little Brazil: An Ethnography of Brazilian Immigrants in New York City.

Dr. Maxine Margolis uncovered some of the unknown facts about the Brazilian community in New York. When Brazilians migrated (also to other areas in the east coast of the US), they mainly settled on W 46th Street and in Astoria, Queens. Brazilians migrated mostly as educated middle class. Many excelled and were owners of Brazilian banks and other establishments and some were part of the labor intensive jobs from housekeeping to restaurant work. Dr. Maxine Margolis spend a couple of years speaking with hundreds of families and informants to bring to life the journeys of Brazilians. It took so long because much of the immigration information doesn't exist, and many families would be deported if found illegal so stayed very much under the radar. These communities were bound by language barriers in some cases and didn't want to bring attention to themselves.

Does this explain why carnaval is rather small? While the communities do celebrate, they aren't yelling from the rooftops, we are here!

Next year Global Samba wants to join the New Yorkers at the carnaval and really find out for ourselves.
If you have any insights about Brazilians in New York we would love to learn more.

Read more...

Project Dance, Empowering Women

Thanks again to everyone who emailed me about Project Dance. Its moving in the right direction and wanted to update you on the progress.

A woman I work with is now on the board of the YWCA in the UK, an organization focusing on helping women age 11-30 through a variety of services. Project Dance will be an event to empower women through dance and music. It will take place in London on International Women's Day, March 8, 2010. I am hoping we can do events in other cities as well.

More details will come shortly and since the event is planned for March we have some time. If others are interested in getting involved please write me and stay tuned!

In the mean time, lets keep learning, living and loving samba!

Read more...