The Samba originated in Africa, but is associated with Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. It has traditionally been performed on the street. A ring of people would sing, clap their hands and play drums, while two people would engage in an extreme Samba competition, nothing is held back.

The Samba was then performed in the slums surrounding Rio de Janiero. Now, it is known as a dance of celebration performed during The Carnival. Thousands of dancers in elaborate costumes perform each year.

Samba began to take off in South America when Samba schools began in 1928. It wasn’t until 1933 when Fred Astaire and Dolores Del Rio danced a version of the Samba in “Flying Down To Rio” that the United States saw the Samba in action. A few years later Carmen Miranda performed the dance in “That Night In Rio”. Finally, in 1939, the Samba was introduced to the general public at the world’s fair. Today it is taught and performed in dance schools all over the world. It’s fast pace and pelvic tic make the Samba difficult for beginners.

Generally speaking, when a dance is being executed you should remain at having a good, solid placement and turnout. In layman’s turns the “alignment” of ballet refers to a dancer’s ability to keep the head, shoulders, and hips aligned vertically so they may remain flexible as long as their performance keeps going. On the other hand “turnout” will refer to a dancer’s ability to maintain balance while still remaining flexible. In other words, Ballet is a balancing act between flexibility and balance. You cannot have one without the other and you must have both to truly perform ballet at a high level. I hope you found this informative and have fun with learning ballet! If you have any further queries regarding proper ballet form, perhaps you should peruse wisegeek’s,http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ballet.htm guide on the definition of ballet.