Summary Of Alma Guillermoprieto's Samba

As explained in Alma Guillermoprieto’s Samba, Brazilian samba and carnival allowed those who participated in the dance to come together to participate in Carnaval, a popular celebration during Lent. Samba, a popular dance in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, was an important symbol in Brazilian’s identity for people who faced poverty and racism to unite as a community where people’s differences in their backgrounds disappear. In the article The Prehistory of Samba: Carnival Dancing in Rio de Janeiro, 1840-1917 by John Charles Chasteen, he argues that samba was not merely a step-by-step dance, but rather an “event or style of body movement” (Chasteen, 30). Brazilian samba and carnival promotes racial harmony because the idea of racial mixing did not stop people from participating in the dance, as they shared a similar love for samba.
Alma writes, “I fidgeted, feeling both out of place and eager to linger in the household’s chaotic warmth. Guezinha gave me an amused look. ‘You’re here to learn, aren’t you? Come here, I’ll show you something.’ […] ‘I have an all-woman wing, fifty of us, and this is the costume we’ll wear. Do you like it?’ I said I did. […] ‘Well, how would you like to join my wing and parade with us at carnival time?” (Guillermoprieto, 36). Alma, a woman with white background, was invited to dance with a group of black women to parade during Carnaval because she shared a similar love for samba. Although samba was mainly danced by Afro-Brazilians, whites appreciated and soon participated within the dance. Alma writes, “The whites’ official loathing of black culture had always masked a secret attraction” (Guillermoprieto, 26). Despite the inequality outside of carnival, samba created a space of inclusivity where both whites and blacks participated in the dance despite their different skin