Brazil is " The Land of the Rhythms ". This magic and fascinating country has been influenced by so many different cultures due to immigration and every state has its own history and rhythm.

 

The drums are concentrated in the northeast of the country, there is a big influence of African culture ( remains of the African slavery 505 years ago ) and the Caribbean in culinary and music.

Adryanna, as the majority of Brazilian girls, has always had the rhythm in her veins. Music and Dance is a big part of Brazilians everyday life. There is always music in the air, radio, tv, streets etc…

On the weekends, Brazilians are used to going out to dance " forró, samba de gafieira, lambada, pagode, axe, zouk ( Caribbean lambada ), salsa, mambo" or simply disco . That is one of the things Adryanna loved doing on her weekends, DANCE!

Adryanna decided to create a new style of exercising, mixing most of the Brazilian Rhythms with some latin spices and basic Capoeira ( which is an African-Brazilian martial art created by the slaves ). Brazilian Rhythms was born at that very first moment. The music is contageous and the moves are great to dance.The Rhythms that Adryanna chose to design her classes are Axe, samba, zouk-lambada, cha cha cha, salsa, batucada, mambo, capoeira and bossa nova.
These rhythms are great to tone all the muscles of the body without causing any harm on the knees.

Brazilian music is typified by its intense and exuberant mixing of styles, from the European/African/Native American blends that brought about the original sambas of the early Twentieth Century, to the electronica and hip-hop records of today. Here is an attempt to define some of those styles.

Axé - A contemporary Afro-Bahian pop style, incorporating samba, rock, soul and other musical influences

Batucada - Intense, polyrhythmic percussion. Batucada is a style which emphasizes Brazilian culture's African heritage.

Bossa Nova- A soft, romantic style which started in the 1950s, replacing samba as the national music. Typically, bossa nova (which means "new way" in Portuguese) is very mellow and laid-back, and very, very cool. In the early 1960s, bossa nova rhythms became popular with jazz and pop musicians in the U.S. and Europe.
 

Capoeira - A style of martial arts developed by Brazilian slaves in the 1700s. Capoeira was developed surreptiously, with practitioners pretending that they were taking parts in dances, when in fact they were practicing their kicks . Thus, there is also a whole style of capoeira music which goes along with the martial arts culture.
 

Forró- Upbeat, catchy dance music from the Northeast of Brazil. Usually features an accordion, and syncopated rhythms similar to samba.

Frevo - An early popular Northeastern carnaval style which features a march-like quality. Frevo is closely related to the samba, and has grown and adapted into a more modern sound. Frevo is most popular in Pernambuco state, especially in Recife.
 

Lambada - A dance style whose popularity peaked in the late 1980s, when the group Kaoma had an international hit. Heavily influenced by Caribbean music -- particulary the merengue -- Lambada is typically more aggressive and hard-driving than samba or pagode.
 

Samba and Pagode - Samba's syncopated, smooth dance style was invented in the late 1800s as part of Brazil's carnaval celebrations. Carnaval sambas were typically performed by large percussion ensembles, and were an expression of Brazil's West African heritage.

Later on, in the 1920s and '30s, samba became increasingly complex, as writers such as Ary Barroso transformed it into a pop style, blending African rhythms with European melodies. Out of fashion during the bossa nova craze of the late 1950s and early '60s, samba had a resurgence of popularity in the 1970s, typified by popular singers such as Clara Nunes, Beth Carvalho and Alcione, who labelled their new style pagode. Over the years, pagode has become a catch-all phrase for many styles of pop music widely heard throughout Brazil.