Samba New York!

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Samba New York! will present "Rootsy Rhythms," featuring the type of samba that originated in informal gatherings in Rio de Janeiro — which, along with Carnaval, are an essential part of the City’s culture and have become a mainstay all over Brazil. These gatherings and the groups that have emerged from them since the 1970s in Rio are typically known under the rubric “pagode,” meaning a samba party. The “Rootsy Rhythms" show will present the backyard pagode style of samba in a more formal performance, covering classic samba songs, Carnaval samba anthems, and several sambas by more current groups to highlight the vast diversity of a genre that has become a worldwide emblem for Brazil. The performance will feature three percussionists, a player of the cavaquinho (small Brazilian guitar), vocals, and a couple who will animate the crowd with various styles of samba dance. The aim of the concert is to give the Bennington community a taste of what samba is all about and to share the joy and human warmth of the Brazilian spirit through music and dance.

This performance is open to the public. Bennington College asks that all guests be up-to-date on vaccinations and only to come to campus if you are feeling well.

Samba New York! is a world-renowned samba performance company dedicated to entertaining, educating, and uplifting people of all backgrounds with the exhilarating music and dance of Brazil. Rooted in such styles as Carnaval samba, pagode, bossa nova, and capoeira, Samba New York! uses its unique cosmopolitan sensibility to bring the samba and other traditional Brazilian art forms into new and unexpected places. A leading educator and performer of samba percussion in the US, and one of the foremost ethnomusicologists specializing in Brazilian music, Philip Galinsky, Ph.D. — aka “Dr. Samba” — founded Samba New York! in 2003 and is the group’s Director and principal percussionist. Managing Director, Valerie Galinsky has helped to make the company’s shows an industry standard in professionalism. The group’s Choreographer, Rio-born Danielle Lima, is one of the premier samba dance specialists in the US. Samba New York! has been called upon to represent Brazil for some of the world’s most prestigious companies and events — including ESPN’s 2014 Upfront at Broadway’s Minskoff Theater; Google’s 2017 YouTube Brandcast event alongside superstar Katy Perry; Peter Gabriel’s WITNESS Gala; Central Park SummerStage; and the 2017 New York Salsa Festival at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for over 25,000 fans.

The company has been featured on such mass media as the Today Show, Good Day New York, CBS Early Show, the Dr. Oz Show, and TV Globo’s Jornal Nacional, Brazil’s most widely viewed nightly news program. Samba New York’s numerous other clients include Carnegie Hall; PepsiCo.; NIKE; Starbucks; SC Johnson; Macy’s; MAC; Bloomberg; Kraft Foods; People en Español; and the Secretaries of Tourism for the Brazilian States of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Amazonas, among many others. Staying true to its motto — “Live The Rhythm” — Samba New York! goes beyond ordinary performance and instruction by inviting people to make samba culture a transformational and fully integrated part of their lives, whether for one moment or a lifetime.