In February 2001, my husband Sam, (a non-dancer at that time) & I, spent 5 weeks travelling around South America. 2.5 weeks was spent on tour in Brazil.

We started our trip in Sao Paulo with a 3 day Israeli Dance Workshop -“Brazilula”.
Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil with a population (in 2001) of 19 million (yes - that’s right! the same as Australia’s total population!) We were warmly greeted at the venue for the workshop (approx 90 minutes out of Sao Paulo) by the guest choreographers Gadi Bitton, Yaron Ben Simchon and guest teachers, Mishael Barzilay, Yaron Carmel and Irith Schwartz. Gabi Almog, the coordinator of “Brazilula” and the tour to follow, gave us all a delicious welcoming drink of “Caipirinha” – the national alcoholic beveridge (crushed ice, lime and vodka) as we met up with some other participants in the workshop. I got along really well with with Dudu Barzilay’s sister, Inbar, her husband Ilan, & Dudu’s mother, Avishag. All in all, there were about 94 Israelis, 20 Americans, (most of them Israeli born) 3 Canadians, 100 plus Brazilians and Sam & I, as the sole representatives of Oz! In 3 days we learned 20 dances, many of which are still being danced in Melbourne now. The standard of the dancers participating was particularly high in comparison to other international dance camps I have attended. Most of the Brazilian girls were teachers from all over the country. I was thrilled to be dancing alongside some of the most outstanding dancers from Israel, Brazil & the USA. Sam equally enjoyed watching those gorgeous girls dance too!!

The food was good and plentiful and the atmosphere was excellent. During the day some people would relax around the pool whilst others (moi included!) preferred to dance Salsa. In the evenings, apart from Israeli dancing, we always had some entertainment such as a talent quest and a Capoeira show. In the afternoons, we played fun games. Mishael Barzilay & his family treated us to a Yemenite style Kabbalat Shabbat we would never forget. At the conclusion of the camp, the international visitors were split into 2 bus groups to make it easier to coordinate our travel & accommodation on our 2-week tour together. There was a Gadi's bus and a Mishael's bus! We basically travelled with Mishael's group of dancers. All of the USA dancers were also on this bus. Gadi's bus was full of dancers from his sessions in Tel Aviv etc. Our bus group was fortunate to be invited as guests to dance at the Jewish Community Centre (A'Hebraica), right in the heart of Sao Paulo I can’t begin to describe the size of the place, but try to picture this: - It has at least 25 clay tennis courts, several immaculately maintained sports ovals, running tracks, several indoor stadiums for gymnastics, dancing, basketball & volleyball, 4 huge swimming pools, 2 theatres (1 that seats 900 and a smaller one that only seats 600!). It has the best-equipped gymnasium I have ever seen. Saunas, spas, and masseurs – you name it – this centre has got it. It has its own ladies’ and men’s’ hairdressing salons, libraries, art galleries, card playing areas, about 15 restaurants/cafes/takeaway food stalls and if all that wasn’t enough, they even have their own McDonald’s ice-cream stall. The crème de la crème was the most magnificent ballroom I have ever seen in my life. It was here that we danced Israeli Folk Dancing with approx. 60 members of the Sao Paulo community.

After an unforgettable afternoon at the “Hebraica”, we were driven to the airport and whilst waiting for our flight, formed a circle and danced in the airport lounge, gathering a few curious spectators. We boarded a plane for an overnight stay at the magnificent Iguassu Falls. These waterfalls are on the border of Argentina and Brazil and can be viewed from both sides. The next morning we were going on a cruise down the river close to the falls. Our tour guide instructed us to wear our bathers and raincoats as we MIGHT get a little wet. However, he somehow neglected to tell us that we would actually be travelling in speedboats, which would repeatedly make rapid circles going right under the falls. No wonder we had to wear our bathers! All of us were drenched but begging & screaming excitedly to the captain of the boat - “Again, again!!” just like little children. What fun! We also visited one of the world’s largest water dam and hydroelectricity power generation plants – ITAIPU, which borders Paraguay. At our Hotel in the evening, we danced!

We then flew to Manaus, the capital of the Amazons. And at the airport lounge whilst waiting for the plane – we danced! Again a crowd forming around us, watching the impromptu entertainment! In Manaus we set out on a tour of a small part of the world renowned Amazon Jungle. This was a little disappointing because all the native wildlife disappeared as soon as we approached. – Have you ever tried to keep 100 Israelis quiet for more than a minute or two? HA!! The mosquitos must also have been scared away because we didn’t even see any! A native Amazonian Indian showed us how to survive if lost in the jungle. (Don’t ask me to prove that I was listening!) We also had a wonderful river cruise to the Rio Negro and Salimoes River water encounter – a unique spectacle of the Amazon River formation, where waters of both rivers don’t mix, flowing side by side in 2 different colours for approx 2 klms until they reach the Atlantic Ocean In the evening in our Hotel, after a fabulous dinner– we watched a Samba Show. At the conclusion of the show, we joined the performers on stage to learn some really great moves!

At the airport whilst waiting for out flight to Salvador – we danced again, gathering fans from all over! We flew for a 3-day stay in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, (this is where the Samba originated) for the beginning of “Carnaval” (spelt correctly – it literally means “no meat” as it is the week before Lent.) We watched the moving floats of the famous Brazilian musical bands and leading singers as well as joining in the festivities of the street carnival in the magnificent old town of Pelhourino. We danced all night along with 1.5 million other people!!!. Well it was pointless trying to sleep!!! The people of Salvador were particularly warm & friendly and boy could they move their bodies! – It was fabulous to learn first hand how to Samba. The next part our trip was to experience “Carnaval” (Carnival) in Recife, on the northeast coast of Brazil. This area was populated by the Dutch originally and has a completely different cultural feel to it. The dancing style also was completely different from Salvador & the way they celebrated Carnaval - quite a contrast. During our 3-day stay, we also visited many superb beaches – warm & crystal clear waters. And in the evenings - we danced!

Our final destination on the Brazilian tour was a 5-day stay in Rio de Janeiro. (The Piece de Resistance!) Rio, in my opinion, is scenically the most magnificent city in the world. Breathtaking views from everywhere. We toured to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain and to the peak of Corcavado the highest point in Rio (the huge statue of Christ) by cable cars. And of course we visited the famous beaches – Copacabana and Ipanema. They didn’t disappoint. There were several “tall and tanned and young and lovelies” sunbaking on the beach. In the evenings – you guessed it….we danced! Gadi and his entourage, and Mishael & his group, joined with the local dancers from Rio to have a marathon Israeli dance party at the Hakoah Club, and we were re-acquainted with some of the Brazilian participants of the Brazilula workshop. Once again, it was a thrill and a pleasure to dance next to some amazing Israeli & Brazilian dancers!!

Our tour group had pre-booked tickets for the best seating available for the Samba Schools Winners Parade. This Parade of the pre-judged 5 best Samba Schools started at 9 pm and finished at 6am the next morning with the best school dancing last! Yep….we were up all night again and enjoyed every second of it. We were close enough to touch the dancers. I’m afraid I would never be able to give justice in my description of the colours and overwhelming spectacle of each Samba School and their numerous floats, so I won’t even try. You may have seen some of it on video footage in movies or television. Basically, each school has at least 5,000 participants divided into various theme groups and costumes. It took approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes for each Samba school to dance by us, each (impossibly) getting better than the next. The tour concluded after a late breakfast at the hotel the next morning. Sam & I said a tearful farewell to everybody, Gadi, Mishael, etc – lots of hugging and kissing. Thank goodness, with email I have managed to maintain quite a few of these friendships. Sam & I spent 2 more relaxing days on the beaches of Rio and touring around the city on our own, before flying out to Santiago, Chile, Colonia in Uruguay, followed by 2 weeks in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. I met up with Raquel London, a phenomenal teacher who I befriended a few times at dance camps in London (Machol Europa) and New York (Hora Keff). Naturally Raquel took me to several Israeli dance classes. I also went to a Salsa workshop and participated in Argentinian Tango lessons ...…but that’s another story!

As a post script – following our trip, my husband Sam expressed some interest in learning to dance – he was so inspired from watching. He knew how much fun he had missed out on by not being a participant. So in April 2001, he finally agreed to start learning partner dancing in my partner class (as a complete beginner to Israeli dancing) and in February 2003, he commenced beginners circle dancing as well. I am delighted to say that Sam was recently a very keen participant in the Machol Miami workshop/camp in December 2005!

As a further post script, I have to sadly announce that Raquel London passed away in September 2005 after a long illness. Raquel will be very much missed not only in Argentina, but by all her friends around the world. I am very grateful to have known her.

Richelle Arber