Samba
Although samba exists throughout Brazil – especially in the states of Bahia, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo – in the form of various popular rhythms and dances that originated from the regional batuque of the eastern Brazilian state of Bahia, a music form from Cape Verde, samba is frequently identified as a musical expression of urban Rio de Janeiro, where it developed during the first years of the 20th century. Early styles of samba - and specifically samba de roda - are traced back to the Recôncavo region of Bahia during the 17th century, and the informal dancing following a candomblé ceremony. It was in Rio de Janeiro that the dance practiced by former slaves who migrated from Bahia came into contact with and incorporated other genres played in the city (such as the polka, the maxixe, the lundu, and the xote), acquiring a completely unique character and creating the "samba carioca urbana" (samba school) and "carnavalesco" (Carnaval school director). Samba schools are large organizations of up to 5,000 people which compete annually in the Carnival with thematic floats, elaborate costumes, and original music.
Lambada
In 1988, French entrepreneur, Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps, visited Porto Seguro in Brazil and discovered locals dancing the tightly syncopated lambada to a melody that turned out to be Bolivian. D'Incamps became involved in the lambada dance craze, largely by promoting a European tour of Kaoma, a band formed with several musicians from the Senegalese group Touré Kunda. To display the dance in Europe, he chose a team of the best dancers at the Boca Da Barra (a dance cabana on the beach in Porto Seguro where lambada dancers refined and developed the style and form of the dance). Most notable among these young dancers chosen for the Kaoma company was Braz Dos Santos, who has become the most celebrated lambada dancer in the world today [Los Angeles Zouk Congress 2016 lifetime Achievement Award World's Best Lambazouk Dancer], and his brother Didi Dos Santos. After Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps bought the musical rights of about 300 lambada songs, he took the dancers back to France, and created the Kaoma band. They were part of lambada's worldwide known style, reaching all the way to Japan and Vietnam, where the dance is still popular.