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| A B O U T U S |
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Roots
Formed by a nucleus of 12 musicians in January 1984, the
London School of Samba was the first Samba School in the UK. Since we began
drum & dance workshops in April 1984, we have taught and introduced Samba to
thousands of people throughout the UK and Europe, many of whom were
later inspired to form their own Samba groups. Of the 300 or so Samba groups
in the UK today, many trace their roots back to us. As the first Samba
School to be formed in the UK, we are proud to be the Godparent of Samba in
the UK. |
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Our colours of green & white were given to us by one of the School's
founders and first Mestre de batería, João Bosco de Oliveira. This was
in honour of what we considered to be the greatest Samba School in Rio -
our patrons Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, and our first Carnival
parade in Notting Hill was in their honour. Mocidade were guests of honour of
the LSS and played with them at the 3rd European Samba Encontro in London
in 1989. |
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Of the drummers who were founding or early members of our School a
remarkable number were amongst the best Samba, Salsa or Jazz musicians
in this country at the time - notably João Bosco de Oliveira, Robin Jones
(who went on to form King Salsa), Roberta Pla (who formed Valdez, the first
Salsa band in London), Alan Hayman, Gerry Hunt, Carlos & Pato Fuentes, Dave
Patman, Liliana Chachian, German Santana, Hamish Orr, Dawson Miller and Dave Bitelli amongst others. |
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The LSS played its first official gig at Covent Garden Piazza, London on
April 1st 1984. In August 1984, we were the first Samba School to play at
the Notting Hill Carnival - in fact we introduced Brazilian Carnival to
Notting Hill. Since then, we have achieved the best results so far for any
non-Caribbean band in the Notting Hill Carnival - having come 3rd in
1990 and 2nd in 2001. For the last five years, we are have been one of the
top ten of all the parading bands in the Notting Hill Carnival. |
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Some of our other major performances over the last 20 years include
concerts throughout the UK at WOMAD, Cardiff Festival, Luton Carnival, Liverpool
Carnival, Edinburgh Festival, Wembley Stadium, Millenium Dome, Belfast
Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. We have played all over Europe since 1984, and continue to do so. We
are now one of the most respected Samba Schools in Europe. The LSS made it's
first visit into Europe when Pato Fuentes took the batería to play at the 1st
Samba Encontro in Uppsala in 1986. We now perform at least once a year
in either in Europe, and have played every year at the International Samba
Festival in Coburg, Germany since 2001. |
The LSS celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special workshop and
performance in Covent Garden on April 3rd 2004 and a party in Brixton.
We also had the honour of a special presentation and showcase at the 2004
Samba Encounter in Brighton in May. |
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We welcome new members to our ranks - the LSS holds open access dance and percussion
workshops in Waterloo every Sunday. Please see the workshop page
for more information. |
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