| Rebekah (samba & Brazilian Street Dance instructor) an avid student of Afro-Brazilian dance since 1995, continues to study and share the dance traditions found in Bahia, Rio and beyond. Since 2000, she has taught dancers how to samba like they do it in Brazil, focusing on footwork, technique and the spirit of "alegria e charme" (joy and charm). Her own areas of interest include:
- Rio de Janeiro-style samba no pé
- Traditional Bahian samba-de-roda (“circle samba”)
- Devotional Afro-Brazilian dances of the orixás
- Popular Brazilian street dances such as samba reggae and baile funk
Rebekah has worked in dance studios, schools and community centers in San Antonio and Austin teaching Brazilian dance to a variety of ages and abilities. Before moving to the United Kingdom, she was a dancer and choreographer for the Ilê Bahia de San Antonio Performance Ensemble and the Austin-based Brazilian percussion band Sambaxé, and has also studied capoeira, a uniquely Brazilian martial art form. Recently returned from the UK, she currently dances with the Acadêmicos da Ópera Samba School in Austin. Besides training and teaching in the US and the UK, Rebekah has also studied Afro-Brazilian dance in Salvador, Brazil, with Rosangela Silvestre and members of the Brazilian dance companies Balé Folclórico da Bahia and DanceBrazil. In addition to showing her students just how fun samba can be, she also works full-time as a translator and interpreter (Spanish/Portuguese > English) |
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