Our Patron’s History

MASTER BRAZ DOS SANTOS HISTORY

Master Braz dos Santos is widely accepted to be the most highly acclaimed and best known Lambada dancer in the world. Having performed and taught Lambada internationally for more than 35 years, he is considered the ‘godfather’ of the field. Internationally-acclaimed, he has developed Lambada communities in the USA, the UK, The Netherlands, France, Argentina, Israel and Spain. He is the most widely-known pioneer of the dance that emerged in Brazil along with the music of Lambada. Along with his brother Didi Dos Santos - also an important Lambada pioneer - he created and developed steps and dance forms that continue to be essential aspects of Lambada and its off-shoots such as Brazilian Zouk. In 1988 he was selected to tour internationally with the famous KAOMA company, that first introduced the Lambada dance and music craze to the world. He developed the first 50-hour Certificate Course that is now the world gold standard for Lambada training. He is Patron of the American Lambada Organization, and has developed the first ethical standards for teachers and students in the field. Videos of his work have reached over 300 million people. In 2014, a major international stage show ‘Brazouka’ was created about his life. Master Braz himself starred in in this successful show, that began at the Edinburgh Festival and subsequently played in London, UK, and many other cities - notably in Australia, South Africa and Brazil.

EARLY LIFE

He was born Jose Braz Martins Dos Santos in Porto Seguro, in the State of Bahia, Brazil, on February 3rd, 1969. He is the seventh child of fourteen known children from his father, Valdomiro Martins Dos Santos (born 23rd August, 1937 in Canavieiras, of African descent), who was a stone and wood worker, and also a shaman in the Candomblé religion. His mother, Maria Da Conceição Santos (born 8th December 1947), is of indigenous descent, a member of the Pataxó tribe based near what is now Coroa Vermelha in Bahia. The large and poorly-funded family of fourteen lived in a very small house near the ferry port for a car and passenger service that runs between Porto Seguro and Arraial D’Ajuda.

FORMATIVE YEARS

Lacking formal education, Braz worked in the streets as a child, selling fruit, seafood, bread, cake, and picolés (popsicles), and earning coins for keeping an eye on cars parked by the first tourists to Porto Seguro. As a teenager, Braz became a fisherman with his brother ‘Didi’ (Ednaldo). After long trips at sea the brothers occasionally followed older men to a local bordello in Paqueta. The boys were too young to enter, but secretly witnessed girls dancing very sensuously with customers, in what they later understood to be parts of the birth of lambada – probably a transition point from the earlier African dances such as maxixe and carimbo with connection to forró, after music then known as ‘lambadas’ had started arriving in porto Seguro from the nordeste areas such as Belem. Back then, some referred to the dance as mela cueca (damp underwear) because early lambada was close and gyrating, with no separation of partners and limited variation.

Young Braz was immediately inspired to learn this dance, but was only given the opportunity to do so once lambada emerged from its hiding places and began to evolve into a more sanitized and popular form danced openly on streets, beaches and in bars. It developed into an interesting and athletic dance that was more complex than forró and required study and skill.

In particular, a large beach cabana with a bar called the Boca da Barra (run by two men known simply as ‘Roão’ and ‘Nivaldo’) was established as the main lambada center. It was open every night of the week for social dance, lambada lessons, lambada competitions and even lambada marathons. The dance floor inside became so crowded the dancers spilled out onto the surrounding area. The popularity of lambada was amplified by its notoriety. Visitors were drawn to Boca Da Barra, intrigued by the label ‘the forbidden dance’ - named by those who were shocked by the sensuality of the hip-swaying movements and dress (men were often bare-chested with long, hessian trousers or shorts , while most women wore saia curta de lambada - very short circle skirts that flipped up during the dance, revealing ‘thong’ briefs and bare buttocks). But visitors could also have seen that the dance was developing into a distinct and relevant dance form, performed by highly skilled practitioners who were devoted to it.

By the late 80’s news of the lambada ‘craze’ had spread throughout Brazil. As Porto Seguro developed into a vacation town for Brazilians living in colder places such as Sao Paulo, the Boca Da Barra became a flourishing tourist attraction. Bars in Porto Seguro and Arraial d’Ajuda also established lambada social dance nights, competitions and performances, and vied with each other to attract customers through presenting entertainment in the form of informal dance-floor shows by Braz and other accomplished young lambada dancers. Examples of these bars were Porto Trinta Oito, close to what is now a busy corner between two main shopping streets, and Ponto do Encontro on Getulio Varga street. There was another, called Jatoba, on the main quadrado in Arraial D’Ajuda, to the left of the church of Nossa Senora d’Ajuda.

Braz began to win lambada competitions, which brought in a little extra money and prizes such as a pair of shoes, or a meal. Prior to the popularity of lambada, people in Porto Seguro had mainly danced forró – especially in June, which is still the designated time for forró festivals throughout Brazil. Forró was considered an acceptable ‘family dance’; by contrast, since it has previously been associated with the bordello, lambada was banned from dance parties in family homes and ‘respectable’ venues. Braz’ father Valdomiro was opposed to the idea of his children dancing lambada, but when Braz began to earn money and goods for the family through the dance, his father turned a blind eye.

KAOMA

In 1988, at the height of lambada’s popularity in Porto Seguro, a French entrepreneur and music promoter Olivier Lamotte d’Incamps travelled to Porto Seguro, where he saw the potential for lambada music and dance outside Brazil. Lamotte d’Incamps’ idea was to create a company of musicians and dancers who would launch lambada – initially in Paris, then throughout Europe, and eventually world wide. When he saw Braz Dos Santos dancing barefooted in the Boca Da Barra, he asked his translator to tap him on the shoulder and invite him to go to Paris. Braz had no knowledge of geography outside his own town, and had never heard of ‘Paris’, but he agreed, as did his brother Didi who was also invited. But Braz was underage, and parental permission had to be sought, which was challenging considering his father’s opposition to ‘the forbidden dance’.

Eventually, Braz arrived in Paris, and the Kaoma group was formed. They had a highly successful European tour. The ‘Lambada’ song, (known in Portuguese as ‘Chorando se foi’) as sung by Loalva Braz became a worldwide number one hit, selling 5 million singles in 1989, and launched the world wide popularity of the dance. Over three years that followed the European tour, the Kaoma group toured Japan, the USA, Caribbean nations, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam and many other countries. So Braz and the KAOMA dancers were the first to bring Lambada to the USA, in the early 1990’s.

AFTER KAOMA

After Kaoma was disbanded, Braz stayed in Paris for another year, performing lambada in venues such as the Monte Christo Bar/Restaurant on the Champs Elysee. He was invited to Argentina by admirer Gilson Damasco, and Braz’ former dance partner Jose Borges, who wanted to establish lambada in Buenos Aires based at the famous dance club ‘Maluca Beleza’. Braz began to teach lambada at Maluca Beleza, and subsequently spent two years developing the dance in Buenos Aires, headlining at Brazilian social dance events, and performing on many national TV shows.

In March 2002, Berg Dias, a Brazilian dance teacher from Curitiba who needed his support in developing lambada in the UK, invited him to London. Braz travelled to the UK with his dance partner at that time, Patricia Cruz from Curitiba in Brazil. In London, Braz enrolled in a language school to learn English, and began to demonstrate and help grow lambada there. He eventually spent more than ten years in London and Manchester, establishing his own dance school, and performing in the UK and throughout Europe. During this time, he used London as a base for developing and spreading lambada to other regions. Due to his skill, charisma and leadership ability to he was also a crucial figure in the establishment of lambada in other European cities such as Amsterdam (for the Brasazouk company), Barcelona (for Dansabrasil), and Paris. He was also instrumental in establishing a lambada community in Tel Aviv (for Zouk Lambada Israel). It is widely accepted that the growth of lambada throughout much of the world community – and its eventual metamorphosis into other dance styles – was due in large part to the efforts and inspiration of Master Braz, as he has now become known.

LAMBADA POST KAOMA

When lambada music lost its popularity, dancers continued to dance to other music with the same beat, notably zouk music from the Caribbean. Some members of the lambada community started to call the dance ‘zouk’, but this was found to be problematic, since Caribbean people in islands such as Martinique and Guadalupe had already established a different dance they called ‘zouk’, performed to the same music. Caribbean zouk had already travelled to Paris in its original form. The term ‘Brazilian Zouk’ was eventually coined to differentiate the lambada-based dance, although some people continue to use names such as ‘zouk-lambada’ and LambaZouk in order to reference its origin. Like all living dances, lambada has continued as a dynamic force, developing and changing, and adopting different styles. It is now danced in over fifty countries. There are schools throughout the world teaching various forms of the dance originally known as lambada, and Braz Dos Santos continues to attend dance Congresses and Festivals held by promoters in major cities, to demonstrate his peerless version of the dance, and to inspire and guide students and teachers alike.

SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAMBADA DANCE

For over thirty-five years, Master Braz – as he is now called, denoting his exclusive status as a major founder of lambada who has also become internationally celebrated - has been a major innovator of the dance, establishing rules, styling for both leaders and followers, idiosyncratic shines and patterns that have become an integral part of the contemporary dance. His signature ‘jump’, which is a cheeky, two-step rhythmic leap that often comes as a surprise for the follower, is now emulated by thousands of students.

In the early days of lambada, Master Braz and his brother Didi developed rules to prevent injury for dancers during fast turns, such as the raising of followers’ available arms to avoid connecting with the leader’s nose or face. This particular rule was developed after Didi received a broken nose from a flying elbow. The important lambada element known as boneca (Portuguese for ‘doll’) in which the follower is lead to rotate shoulders in a semi-limp fashion, sometimes accompanied by arms and/or head, was also developed by Braz, Didi and some other local dancers in the Bocca Da Barra. The boneca was partly borrowed from a similar style in forró, but became established as a staple of lambada, both ‘in hold’, and when partners separate during performance styles. Master Braz also invented a signature turning addition to the form of boneca known as boneca despresada that was originally given technical form by Didi with his then partner Rebeca Rô Lang.

Master Braz is known for his ability to clap out the rhythm of lambada and be heard by every dancer on a large, crowded dance floor. His ‘energia’ is known to be ‘infectious’.

In the mid 90’s, Braz developed technique for ‘stealing’ a follower from another leader – a dance floor game that has become a signature play element of contemporary advanced lambada.

Lambada Três

Master Braz is also known for his ability to dance with more than one follower, and he holds an informal record for the largest number of simultaneous partners. This began around 1986 in Boca Da Barra, when Braz was dancing with his then partner Isabel ‘Berlina’ Naraci. His sister Carmina was sitting on a table near the dance floor. She was tired but, when a good song was played, Braz invited her to join him and his partner. They giggled about this, but after that incident Braz began to develop Lambada Três - as the dance of one leader and two followers is now known. Braz can reasonably claim to be the originator of this form.

Over many years, Master Braz has continued his interest in developing and exhibiting complex, multi-partner skills. There are recent documented occasions such as the Berg Congress in 2011 in which Master Braz performed with two girls at once (Maria Christiani and Julie Scheffer), largely using a different ‘lead’ from each arm, for example, turning one girl in fast pirouettes while leading the other in different patterns. At the Los Angeles Congress in 2013, held aboard the Queen Mary, he performed with at least 15 girls, while at the Buenos Aires Dance Congress in 2015 he performed with over 20 girls.

World’s First Lambada Group

Well before Kaoma – the group that launched lambada - was formed, Master Braz created the first lambada performance group in the world, called ‘Lambaxé’, consisting of three couples. The group consisted of Master Braz, Isabel (‘Bellina’), Didi, Gabriela, ‘Cobrina’ and Denise, and it often included lambada três , lambada quarto (with three followers), and lambada seis (five followers). In Lambaxé he also developed Lambada Swing (changing partners mid-dance) – the first in Porto Seguro to do so, and therefore, the first in the world.

PERFORMANCES AND PARTNERS

Master Braz’ most notable partners have included Marilei Da Silva, Isabel ‘Berlina’ Neraci, and Gabriela Turbaine (in Kaoma), Mariana Santos Rebouças (from Porto Seguro, also performed together in Sao Paulo), Josy Borges (from Porto Seguro), Patricia Cruz (from Curitiba), and Romina Hidalgo (from Buenos Aires). More recently he has also performed with Solange Dias (in London), Dikla Damty (from Israel), Adriana Coutino (from Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and Lena Thieme (USA).

Master Braz has presented workshops throughout the world with: Josie Borges (Sao Paulo, Israel, London, Porto, Barcelona, Amsterdam); Romina Hidalgo,(Buenos Aires, London, Barcelona, Holland, Prague, Sao Paulo); Patricia Cruz (Porto Seguro, Zurich, Buenos Aires, London, Barcelona, Manchester); Ülle Adamson (Moscow, London); Adriana Coutinho (Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and demonstrations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, and Perth); Lena Thieme (demonstrations in LA, New York, Key West, Buenos Aires), and Taylor Tarn (performances in Los Angeles, New York, Atlantic City, Barcelona and Key West).

Major Stage Show

In 2014, the story of Braz Dos Santos’ transition from teenage fisherman to world wide lambada star became the subject of the international stage show ‘Brazouka’ directed by Arlene Phillips, and produced by Harley Medcalf (Duet Productions) and Pamela Stephenson-Connolly. The show was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has run in London, Johannesburg, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. A Brazilian ‘Brazouka’ Company has been created, with a home in Porto Seguro, largely to provide opportunities for young Brazilian dancers.

AWARDS

In 2015 Braz Dos Santos was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Los Angeles Zouk Festival, as ‘World’s Best LambaZouk Performer’. He was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Buenos Aires Dance Congress in 2013, and at the Brazouka Beach Festival in 2015. In 2017 he was honored for his lifetime achievement at the New York Zouk Festival.

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