online ZOOM
ONLINE CLASS ON SUNDAYS. BOOK HERE!
online ZOOM
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
AT PINEAPPLE DANCE STUDIOS_ WEEKLY Samba Technique CLASS. Beginners are welcome! BOOK HERE
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
online ZOOM
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
WEEKLY OPEN LEVEL CLASS_ Improvers to Advanced class. BOOK HERE
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
WEEKLY Samba Technique CLASS. Beginners are welcome! BOOK HERE
STUDIO & ONLINE CLASS
Samba de Rainha (pronounced |ˈsæmbə diː haˈiɲa|) is a Brazilian samba dance class for anyone who wishes to learn
Brazilian culture through music and Samba no pé.
“Rainha” means Queen in Portuguese, and Samba de Rainha translates as Samba of a Queen. The name reflects both our home in the United Kingdom — A Terra da Rainha, as Brazilians affectionately call it — and our belief in empowerment. Samba de Rainha is a movement that encourages everyone to discover confidence, self-expression, and inner strength through Brazilian dance.
Awaken your inner Queen with Samba de Rainha.
In class, you will improve your samba technique while building confidence, self-esteem, and body awareness. You will also learn elements of Portuguese language and Brazilian cultural expression through music and movement. Whether your goal is to become a professional samba dancer, take part in Carnaval in Brazil or Europe, or simply improve your fitness and wellbeing, Samba de Rainha offers a welcoming and inspiring space for all levels.
Students who wish to perform may join Sambistas da Rainha, my performance team. Each year, there are opportunities to take part in shows, festivals, and Carnivals in London, across Europe, and in Brazil.
I am deeply proud of Brazilian popular culture and passionate about sharing genuine Brazilian samba, with its technique, emotion, and cultural roots. I teach and develop core samba skills — from fast Samba no pé and samba walks to poses and floreios — using a wide range of traditional and contemporary samba music. Above all, Samba de Rainha is a supportive and friendly community where people connect, grow, and celebrate together.
Samba de Rainha Classes – Pineapple Dance Studios
Wednesday – 6:25 PM (Studio & Online)
Friday – 6:30 PM (Studio & Online)
Live Online Samba Class
Sunday – 11:00 AM (Online only)
Online Samba Technique Courses
Learn Brazilian samba at your own pace with structured online technique courses.
Seasonal courses focusing on technique, musicality, and cultural expression.
School of Brazilian Samba Império da Rainha – Classes & Rehearsals with live drums
For shows, workshops, and collaborations, please get in touch.
Obrigada, Abraços e Axé!
My name is Liani Devito, and I am from Santos, a seaside city in São Paulo State, Brazil. My journey in dance began during my teenage years through Capoeira, training at the school of Mestre Fábio Parada, alongside a deep connection to Afro-Brazilian culture and spirituality. It is difficult to pinpoint the beginning of my relationship with samba — in Brazil, samba is not something you “discover”; it is something you grow up with. Samba has been part of my life from an early age.
At the age of 29, I left Brazil in search of new opportunities and moved to the United States, where I worked as a Latin Ballroom dance teacher at Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Houston, Texas. There, I received rigorous training in American-style Latin ballroom, which significantly shaped my technical foundation and teaching approach.
I have lived in London since 2010, where I dedicated four intensive years to professional training at Pineapple Dance Studios, studying Jazz, Samba, Latin, and Commercial dance. Pineapple became my second home, and since May 2021, I have been proud to work there as a resident Brazilian Samba Dance teacher.
In 2016, I joined Paraíso School of Samba (PSS) as a passista. In 2017, following a highly competitive selection process, I was elected Rainha de Bateria (Queen of the Drums) and became part of the school’s samba teaching panel. From 2018 to 2023, I led my own ala (a costume group within the school) in partnership with the school’s carnavalesco. I paraded with PSS at six Notting Hill Carnivals between 2016 and 2023.
Since 2020, my dance team, Sambistas da Rainha, and I have performed at major cultural events such as Acton Carnival, Move It, Watford Carnival and Kennington Festival in London. In 2023, I led my group to parade at Carnaval Tropical de Paris on the Champs-Élysées.
In 2024, I founded a new School of Samba in London, GRES Império da Rainha, alongside other samba professionals.
I proudly serve as President of the school, becoming the first female president of a School of Samba in the UK.
Alongside this, I have performed with numerous Brazilian bands, entertainment companies, and cultural groups across the UK and internationally. My work has taken me to Russia, Germany, Australia, Poland, the USA, France, and Denmark, and I have appeared in television shows and music videos, including a collaboration with Basement Jaxx.
In Rio de Janeiro, I have been training and parading as a passista since 2018, performing with several respected Schools of Samba:
Parading with multiple samba schools and passista directors has given me deep insight into the samba world — its culture, discipline, and performance standards. Being a passista at Acadêmicos do Salgueiro is a significant achievement, led by Carlinhos Salgueiro, one of the most respected figures in Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval.
Outside the samba world, I am a Senior Lecturer in Biosciences, bringing structure, pedagogy, and care into everything I teach.
For me, samba is more than dance. It is a connection to my roots, a form of expression, a source of physical and mental wellbeing, and a powerful way to build community. Through samba, I aim to share culture, confidence, and empowerment with others.
Join my samba journey.
Vamos sambar!
Samba. The word itself is musical — rhythmic, percussive, alive.
Often described as the most Brazilian of all musical forms, samba emerged in the early 20th century as the dominant music of Rio de Janeiro, gradually replacing earlier popular styles such as maxixe and choro. As samba evolved, it increasingly foregrounded African-derived rhythms and percussion while incorporating European harmonic and melodic traditions. This fusion gave samba profound cultural meaning: a music born of mestiçagem — the blending of peoples and cultures — that is uniquely and unmistakably Brazilian. Over time, samba became closely tied to ideas of national identity, cultural belonging, and Brazil’s evolving concept of “racial democracy” (Walsh, 2010).
At its core, samba is a rich, syncopated rhythm rooted in the drums, dances, and spiritual traditions of Central and West Africa, particularly Angola and Congo. Brazil itself is a cultural crossroads, shaped by Indigenous, African, and European influences, and samba reflects this complex heritage. Within Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, samba is understood as a form of invocation — a way to connect with one’s Orixá, to honour and communicate with the divine through rhythm, movement, and collective energy.
Samba is not a single style, but a vibrant family of musical and dance forms. From the fast-paced, explosive samba of Carnaval — with its drums, movement, and visual spectacle — to the elegant partnered dance of Samba de Gafieira and the ancestral circular traditions of Samba de Roda, each expression carries its own history and meaning.
In my Brazilian samba dance classes, you will experience the Carnaval Passista style — the solo samba dance performed by highly skilled dancers in Brazil’s Schools of Samba — enriched by influences from Samba de Gafieira and Samba de Roda. A passista is more than a dancer: they are a bearer of tradition, technique, and joy. Samba dance is one of Brazil’s most valued cultural expressions and is often described as the heartbeat of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Awaken your inner Queen with Brazilian Samba.
Let’s samba. Vamos sambar!
Samba de Rainha
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