Dança Samba

Daniela Fernandes dances the Samba at Expo Latino 2022, Calgary, Canada. © J. Ashley Nixon

Expo Latino returned on Aug 19, 2022, after its imposed three-year pandemic pause to big crowds and fabulous sunshine. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing the event on behalf of the Hispanic Arts Society, and the opportunity to make images of the music, dance and cultures of many Latin American countries and Spain.

Dança da Mãozinha

One of the spectacular shows at Expo Latino featured the Samba Brasil Heritage Dancers performing to the music of Dança da Mãozinha by Tchakabum. If you have done a Zumba class you might have moved through this energetic routine from Brazil that gets you stepping samba faster and faster.

Some of the lyrics of that song (“Little Hand Dance” in English) serve well as an extended caption for this series of portraits I made of the dancers:

A dança da mãozinha
Vai dar uma rodadinha
Olhe pr'um lado
Olhe pro outro
Preparem o terreno
Que a dança vai começar

This translates into English as:

The dance of the little hand
Go for a spin
Look to one side
Look at the other
Prepare the ground
That the dance will begin

Obrigado Hispanic Arts Society, Expo Latino e Samba Brasil Heritage Dancers. Dança, Dança!

More photographs

You can view here more of my photographs from Expo Latino 2022.