Queen of the Drums

Rainha da Bateria

The Rainha da Bateria or Queen of the drums is one of the highest positions of honour in a Samba School both in Rio and worldwide. The Rainha da Bateria, or Queen of the drums, is right in front of up to 300 drummers at Rio Carnival!

History of the Rainha in a Samba School

The first Rainhas da Baterias (Queen of the Drums) started to appear in the 1970s. One of the very first was Adele Fatima who led the drummers (bateria) from Mocidade da Independente de Padre Miguel at the carnival. The idea behind the Rainha da Bateria is to help the Bateria (samba drummers) give it their all and play their hearts out to honour the samba school. Her role is to parade in front of the drummers, proudly strutting and exciting the crowd for the samba school to parade down the Sambodromo (Rio de Janeiro), or in London – the Notting Hill Carnival.

The position of Rainha da Bateria is one of the most important posts for any Escola da Samba. The World Samba Organisation’s definition is “A person who samba dances very well who accompanies the percussion or “bateria” unit of a samba school. This person is usually a woman and is also chosen for their physical beauty.” She leads out the Bateria at key events and represents the school’s dancers and bateria.

First Rainha da Bateria of The London School of Samba

The London School of Samba had our first queen in 1994 and there have now been nearly 30 different Rainha Da Bateria. The first London School of Samba Rainha da Bateria competition was held a few years later in 1998 in Waterloo. It is usually held in the second half of July in time for the August Notting Hill Carnival Parade.

Rainha da Coburg Competition at International Samba Festival

The International Samba Festival in Coburg in Germany is a place where our Rainhas da Bateria have done well. The London School of Samba Rainhas has won top prizes: in 2004, 2008 & 2013.

Rainhas da Bateria for the London School of Samba

Below are some of our Rainhas da Bateria over the years for The London School of Samba. We have had fantastic Samba Queens or Rainhas lead the London School of Samba. A big thank you to all our Queens both past and present for representing the bateria and the London School of Samba.

Welcome to our new queen: Mbombo

Welcome to our New Queen Mbombo at the London School of Samba!

I first heard about the London school of samba through my passista friend, Isabelle. She encouraged me to do a class in the summer of 2013 around Carnival time.
I joined LSS for the 2013 Carnival then left and only came back in 2015.

Orquidea Lima and Patsy Hayward were my first samba inspiration from the very beginning. In fact, I had my very first ever samba class with Orquidea in the intermediate level. I was immediately touched by LSS’ sense of love and community. Everyone was so welcoming. There were no egos at all.

As someone who struggled with body image, racism and isolation from childhood, I value LSS’ deep sense of community and love how diverse it is.
In LSS, one will find people from all over the world, all ages, shapes and sizes accepted and celebrated.

I was mainly dancing but every now and again, I would try my hand in Batteria, starting with the surdu, then casha and finally sticking to tam.
A big thanks to our late Paul who was patiently teaching me and to Phil and Kitty for taking over.

It’s only when I turned 39 that I decided to invest my time and money into samba, taking extra classes, working on my craft, and more recently, working on my stamina.

As a Rainha, I aspire to deepen the sense of community within our school and share London school of samba’s love, joy and passion with the world.

As well as being a 42, soon to be 43 year-old Congolese and voluptuous dancer, I am hoping to break the stereotypical idea of what and how a samba dancer should look like while reminding us all of the roots of samba. The little shy girl in me could have never imagined to one day be a “Rainha da bateria”. I felt like I didn’t fit the mould of what a samba dancer was. But no one is meant to fit the mould. There is beauty in uniqueness.

I hope to inspire others to accept themselves fully and achieved their God’s given dreams even those that seem unattainable.

“For You formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well “(Psalm 139:13-14).