the samba
oh my word, yes! first you should know, as I understand it, there are two sambas. one is the "unabridged", the uninhibited, the real samba as danced in Brasil. the other is the cleaned up version, the Protestant samba, or ballroom samba developed for American ballrooms. honest to god, as I understand it, Americans went to Brasil and were captivated by the joyous, the rambunctious, the bawdy dance that Brasilians call the samba, but they knew it would never fly in the United States and Europe, still nearly dying from a stiff dose of Victoria, and an almost fatal case of hypocrisy. so well-meaning Americans tamed the samba and loosed it into ballrooms in the USA and in England and in France. it was a hit. and Brasilians who see it ask, "What's that?" still, it's one of the most popular dances on "Dancing With The Stars". (uh...wait. at least it is with me. I may be biased.) but, oh my goodness, watch the real thing. every year the internet releases dozens of videos of real Brasilians dancing the real samba in the streets and in the parades during Carnaval. every year I do, watch and sometimes download. oh my, yes! if there is an afterlife and if the universe is kind, I will get a new body and I'll be able to learn and to dance the samba. (you can probably tell, I count on neither.) oh! one more thing! and this is vital! in the Brasilian samba, there really are two dances. of course a man dances! of course he sambas! but really, his role in the samba is to support the woman dancing. oh, the woman dances! oh, the woman sambas! and she is what is glorious about the samba. she is what the Americans dared not bring back from Brasil. she is samba, and samba is celebration!
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