Arcos da Lapa

I had a great start of this year – on an early morning of January 1st I landed in the Rio de Janeiro International Airport Galeao. All the time that I was getting ready for my trip I was expecting that I will hear samba music from my first steps on the Brazilian soil. However, it did not happen until our first baile of the year – and it happened not in any place but in a gafieira Lapa 40 Graus. So I started my dance year in the bohemian heart of Rio, the cradle of samba de gafieira.

One of the reasons I am so fascinated with samba de gafieira is that it has a lot of history and culture intertwined into all aspects of the dance – names of the steps, outfit, dancefloor etiquette etc. All of this can be understood in the context of gafieira.

What…