Rehearsals

Deixa Sambar rehearses most Thursday nights, 7-9pm in Rm. B21 of Cornell’s Lincoln Hall music building. The group members come in, set up equipment, and get to work. Some of us have been playing samba for many years, others of us are at various stages of gaining expertise. All are welcome and are integral to the group’s sound and identity. Instructions and suggestions flow in English or Portuguese, and somehow everything is understood. We listen to recordings, watch DVD performances by the music’s originators, and then put our own personalities into the musical stream. Visitors come to watch, dance, and sometimes join in. We are all brought together by the music. For the Brazilians in the group, it’s a chance to shake the snow off our boots and regain a slice of home; for the non-Brazilians, it’s a pathway toward a deep cultural sharing; for all, it’s a bond made firm by making something beautiful together.

Performances

Deixa Sambar performs often during the year: at the jam-packed Carnival party thrown every year by Cornell’s Luso-Brazilian Student Association(Lubrasa), the springtime Ithaca Festival, concerts at local clubs, and parties around the Ithaca area. We also enjoy performing at local schools and college classrooms, exposing Central New York to Brazilian music and cultural life. Ithaca boasts a lively Brazilian population, made up largely of students; they are often surprised and delighted to find such an accomplished samba group “high above Cayuga’s waters.” And they dance!

For performance information or to book the group, contact Cleibe Souza: (607)592-1446 or cleibe@gmail.com

Come join us!