About Me

I’m Liani Devito, originally from Santos, a coastal city in São Paulo, Brasil, where samba is less something you learn and more something you grow up breathing.

My dance journey began in my teenage years through Capoeira, training with Mestre Fábio Parada, while building a strong connection with Afro-Brazilian culture and rhythm. Later, I moved to the United States, where I taught Latin Ballroom at Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Houston, Texas — an experience that provided me with strong technical foundations and shaped the way I teach movement today.

Since 2010, London has been my home. I trained intensively for four years at Pineapple Dance Studios in Jazz, Latin, Commercial, and Samba. Since 2021, I have proudly served as the resident Brazilian Samba instructor, offering Samba dance classes and workshops.

Over the years, I have performed across the UK and internationally, appearing at festivals, cultural events, TV productions, and music videos — including work with Basement Jaxx. My performances and teaching have taken me to France, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Russia, Australia, and the United States. I have also featured in BBC interviews discussing the vibrant culture of Brazilian samba.

In London’s carnival scene, I was part of Paraíso School of Samba from 2016 to 2023 as a passista, later becoming Rainha de Bateria (Queen of the Drums), joining the teaching team, and leading my own ala for four consecutive years at Notting Hill Carnival.

In 2024, I founded my own Brazilian School of Samba, Império da Rainha, where I serve as President, Artistic Director, and Lead Dance Instructor. This school was created from a desire to raise the standard of authentic Brazilian samba within the London samba community and to demonstrate that a woman can successfully lead a School of Samba, both in London and in Brasil.

In just two years of existence, Império da Rainha became the winners of the 2025 Notting Hill Carnival Brazilian Band competition — a remarkable achievement for a self-funded school led by a Brazilian woman.

To keep my teaching connected to the highest level of authentic samba, I travel to Rio de Janeiro every year, where I train and parade as a passista with leading samba schools:

- Acadêmicos do Salgueiro (2022–present)  

- Estácio de Sá (2022–2023; 2024–2025)  

- Império da Tijuca – Madrinha dos Passistas (2022) and Passista (2018–2021)  

- Unidos de Vila Isabel (2020–2021)  

- Império Serrano (2019)

Training and parading across different schools and directors has given me deep insight into samba’s culture, discipline, and performance standards. Being part of Salgueiro — under the direction of Carlinhos Salgueiro — reflects a level of excellence that I continuously bring into my teaching.

Alongside dance, I am also a Senior Lecturer in Biosciences & Biomedical Scientist — which perhaps explains why I teach samba with equal parts structure, detail, and joy.

For me, samba embodies culture, identity, essence, fitness, expression, and community all at once.

Start your journey into Brazilian samba today! Vamos sambar!

Axé,  

Liani