Samba Dance Workshop with Ana

All Levels WELCOME! Ana Carla Laidley is from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. She is a samba dancer and master instructor, based in Los Angeles, whose classes integrate traditional and contemporary Samba styles. She grew up receiving influences from the great masters of Samba, starting at her home, with her parents. Ana’s father is a talented musician, Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro, and her mother, Ana Gomes, was a professional dancer. Ana has paraded in the Samba Schools in Brasil over thirty times, including parading for Estacio de Sa, Mangueira, Viradouro, and Uniao da Ilha. She has more than twenty and five years of experience teaching Samba and she is continuously researching and creating projects to better develop a methodology that better "translates" her knowledge about and passion to her Native Culture. She has taught in Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Hawaii, and all over the USA. Ana provides a space for people to develop their knowledge of the Brazilian culture as well as reconnect with their body, mind, and soul. Her Samba classes for all levels cover the basic, intermediate, and advanced steps of samba, variations, breaks, transitions, and different samba rhythms and styles. She teaches the traditional as well as the contemporary forms of Samba. Some of her specialties include Jongo, Samba de Roda and Malandro style. Ana is the creator of the group Samba N' Motion and her choreographic works reflect her understanding and passion for and her respect to the ancestry and legacy of this unique form of dance, so-called Samba. She is the Founder of the International Samba Congress event in Los Angeles, which draws dancers and musicians from across the globe to share her passion. Editor's note: Besides all that…. GET READY TO GET DOWN!