Samba (ballroom dance)

The international ballroom version of samba is one of the five official Latin American dances in international dancesport competitions. It in a lively, rhythmical dance which progresses counter-clockwise around the floor ^[1]. It differs considerably from the original samba styles of Brazil; in particular, it differs from Samba de Gafieira, a partner type of Samba in that country.

Music & Rhythm

The tempo of the Samba is 50-52 bars per minute with a time signature of ²
₄ ^[1]^[2].

Samba music can have a combination of timings and beat values including making use of half and quarter beats. Steps using quarter beats 'a' tend to make use of the samba bounce action which gives Samba its distinctive appearance.^[1]

Some examples of counts can be seen in the below table:


Count	Beat Value	Example Figure
1 a 2	3⁄4, 1/4, 1	Botafogo
1 & 2	1⁄2, 1⁄2, 1	Samba Locks
1 2 &	1, 1⁄2, 1⁄2	Natural Roll
1 2 3 or 1 a e	3⁄4,1⁄2, 3⁄4	Promenade Runs

When danced certain rhythms from the above, the dance features a bouncing action, with body elevation occurring at the last 1/4beat of the first bar.^[3]

Technique

Samba Bounce

The Samba bounce is not a up-and-down bounce action but rather a knee action with little elevation..

The Samba bounce action is created by bending and straightening the knees^[1]. When the knees are bent the ankles compensate by lifting up and the hip (pelvis) goes forward.so there is little change in elevation.

Syllabus

The World Dance Council uses the Burns Latn Tek books as the basis for their medallist and professional examinations and they have produced the following syllabus ^[4]. For brevity, steps conducted in different positions have been excluded.

Student-Teacher Level

Samba Basic
Samba Whisks
Samba Walks
Samba Chasses
Volta Spot Turns

Associate Level

Stationary Samba Walks
Corta Jaca
Close Rocks
Reverse Turn
Botafogos
Natural Roll

Licentiate Level

Open Rocks
Backward Rocks
Plait
Voltas

Fellowship Level

Samba Locks
Drop Volta
Cruzado Locks
Cruzado Walks
Promenade to Counter-Promenade Runs
Batucada
Zig-Zag
Carioca Runs

References

1 2 3 4 Latin Technique Book. Centenary House, 38/40 Station Road, Blackpool, FY4 1EU: UKADance. 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
↑ Samba Syllabus (6th ed.). Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. 2025.
↑ The Revised Technique of Latin American Dancing, chapter "Samba", ISTD official guide
↑ "WDC LATIN-AMERICAN SYLLABUS - BLT" (PDF). www.wdcdance.com. Retrieved 2026/08/06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 Latin Technique Book. Centenary House, 38/40 Station Road, Blackpool, FY4 1EU: UKADance. 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[2] Samba Syllabus (6th ed.). Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. 2025.

[istd-3] The Revised Technique of Latin American Dancing, chapter "Samba", ISTD official guide

[4] "WDC LATIN-AMERICAN SYLLABUS - BLT" (PDF). www.wdcdance.com. Retrieved 2026/08/06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

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