Unidos de Bangu joins London School of Samba for Halloween party
London School of Samba celebrated a very special Halloween on Sunday 31 October with the first LSS Quadra Night in 18 months. There were no ghosts or vampires , just a scattering of witches and fairies, a mysterious blood-soaked scuba diver, a large friendly bee, and a special guest from Unidos de Bangu, a top Samba School from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Quadra only happens once a month and it is your chance to dance samba in London to classic samba songs played live by the London School of Samba Bateria (drummers). It is like being at a Brazilian Samba dance club but in London!
Quadra Night – best live samba party in London!
If you are not from Brazil, you probably do not know how special our ‘Quadra Nights’ are on a Sunday. They only happen once a month, and it is your chance to dance to live samba drummers in London!
A fun way to dance to live samba drums!
Our Quadra Nights (samba dance party!) are a fun way to learn how to dance Samba to the live drummers from the London school of samba band (Bateria).
The Quadra night is an exciting combination of the live samba drums and a chance to dance like at Rio carnival but still in London!
Friendly teachers show you how to dance samba!
We have friendly teachers on hand to show you how to dance Samba. All you have to do is follow the teacher and they will break it down and make it easy for you to follow.
These samba dance parties are a lot of fun and a great way to learn how to dance samba! You will be getting into your samba groove within minutes with our fabulous teachers.
We have many customer reviews of our Quadra Nights and they all say it is the closest thing to Rio, without flying to Brazil!
Claudio Penido from ‘GRES Unidos de Bangu’ visits London
Left: Madrinha (Asia), Rainha (Jordan), Claudio Penido (Unidos de Bangu), Porta Bandeira (Davina), Mestre Sala (Marcelo), Musa (Patsy Samba)
Claudio Penido, a destaque and cultural ambassador representing Rio’s ‘GRES Unidos de Bangu’, had flown to London especially to receive an award for all of his great cultural work outside of Brazil promoting Brazilian culture. It was a great honour to have Claudio attend the London School of Samba Quadra night. You can read more and connect with Claudio Penido on Facebook or at Claudio Penido Instagram account.
Sharing the passion for Samba in London
Claudio Penido was our special guest of honour at our Quadra night. Claudio gave a speech from his heart about the special relationship enjoyed by the schools coming together.
Speaking to the dancers and drummers after an hour’s non-stop Samba, he said: “The passion and love of Samba I can see in your faces reminds me of the first time I started Samba in Rio.
It is wonderful to see how the traditions of our school have taken root and flourished here in London, and I look forward to seeing you grow still bigger and better in future.”
LSS honoured to have Claudio join our Quadra Night
We were honoured to have Claudio join us, representing GRES Unidos de Bangu, twice winners of Serie A, the godmother to our godmother samba school in Rio – GRES Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel.
London School of Samba to Parade with Unidos de Bangu at Rio Carnival
Marcelo and Davina preparing to showcase LSS’s flag at the London New Year’s Parade, 1 January 2020. Photo courtesy of Miko Jacqueline.
Our Mestre-Sala and Porta-Bandeira (master of ceremonies and flag-bearer), Marcelo dos Santos and Davina Greeves, represented the LSS flag at our Quadra Night. Their courtly and poised dance celebrated and revered the beautifully embroidered silk flag of the London School of Samba.
Representing London School of Samba in Rio
London School of Samba has some exciting news straight out of Rio Carnival! Our Mestre-Sala and Porta-Bandeira, Marcelo dos Santos and Davina Greeves, have been invited to represent the London School of Samba at Rio Carnival in 2022 with Unidos de Bangu Samba School.
Davina and Marcelo will parade as the ‘3rd couple’ of Unidos de Bangu under the Enredo “Deu Castor na cabeça“, an homage to Castor de Andrade. You can read more about the story here, London School of Samba to parade with Unidos de Bangu.
Background information on Unidos de Bangu
Unidos de Bangu Bateria – photo credit Magavier Fernandes
Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Unidos de Bangu is a famous samba school in Rio de Janeiro based in the Bangu neighborhood. It is located outside of the centre of Rio in the west zone area. It takes approximately an hour and a half on public transport to visit their quadra from the centre of Rio. Here is a link to a map showing how to get to the Bangu’s Quadra if you are ever in Rio.
Founded in 1937
Unidos de Bangu was founded on November 15, 1937, and it is the oldest Samba School in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro. Unidos de Bangu has already paraded in the sambodromo in the Special Group at Rio Carnival in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1963. The school is a two-time champion of Rio Carnival winning the Serie A group in 1957 and 1962. Recently Bangu was the winning Samba School in Serie B back in 2017 and then returned back to Serie A group in 2018.
Godmother Samba School of Santa Cruz and Mocidade
GRES Unidos de Bangu is the godmother Samba School to some other fantastic schools in Rio. Bangu is the godmother school for Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz. Bangu is also the ‘godmother’ of another Rio samba school ‘GRES Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel’.
Mocidade are godmother school to LSS
Mocidade creates the link from Unidos de Bangu to the London School of Samba. Bangu is the godmother school to Mocidade, and then Mocidade is the godmother to the London School of Samba. Therefore it was a great honour to have Claudio Penido, a destaque and cultural ambassador representing Rio’s ‘GRES Unidos de Bangu’ at our Quadra Night.
Contact the London School of Samba
If you want more information about our samba dance classes in London, then get in contact with us. Our Samba drumming classes in London are super popular and a fun way to learn how to play samba in London! The London School of Samba is based in central London in Waterloo at the WAC centre.
You can drop into individual classes and no need to book up for months at a time! We love new members (especially beginners) to join our fun dance and drumming classes at the London School of Samba! Send us a message below and our friendly team will be in touch.