where we're at !!!

Saturday February 18

Carnaval 2012 w/ The Dance Migration, Bracatum, Cibelle Iglesias, Salviano Pessoa, DJ Simba @ LIUNA Loc.183 1263 Wilson Av. Toronto Click here full size for event poster. Batucada Carioca performing @ Carnaval 2012. Saturday February 18. event poster.

Click here to see the full Batucada Carioca schedule.

welcome

Since the group's first show, Batucada Carioca has been playing the most traditional and original rhythms of Rio de Janeiro's Samba Schools, carrying with them the joy, fidelity, and soul of true Samba.

The group was born from informal jam sessions brought together by Maninho Costa as he was commissioned to perform at Toronto's 30th annual Brazilian Carnival Ball. As the nephew of one of the most respected drum core leaders in Rio de Janeiro, Mestre Odilon Costa, Maninho was raised in the world of Samba and has participated in many of Samba's most memorable recordings. To this day he still regularly returns to Brazil to play a feature role in the drum cores of Rio's Carnaval.

Through the Batucada Carioca, Maninho fosters a friendly and passionate community of musical artists with an affectionate love for traditional samba and the cultural immersion this entails, from learning Brazilian Portuguese to hosting legendary Brazilian BBQs. Bearing the colours blue and white, the group pays homage to Rio de Janeiro's Portela samba school.

The foundation of Batucada Carioca's music is a heavy percussive swing, with the melodic accompaniment of cavaquinho, guitar, and trombone as well as various singers from Toronto's Brazilian community. Their repertoire includes songs by Beth Carvalho and João Nogueira, as well as classics such as a breathtaking instrumental rendition of Aquarela do Brasil ... not to mention the greatest past Carnaval themes, immortalized in Brazil's free-spirited collective musical culture, which will prove once and for all how Brazilians come to be so light on their feet!