learn at the source of afro-Brazilian dance, music, & culture

During the Transatlantic slave trade, 12 million enslaved people were trafficked from West Africa and transported to the Americas: 20% died in the middle passage and 40% settled in Brazil.

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil was the largest Brazilian harbor to transport African enslaved people into Brazil. For that reason, this beautiful urban coastline is often called today the Heart of Africa in the Americas. The culturally rich destination is home to Bahia’s most active spiritual leaders, visual artists, thinkers, performing artists and educators. Viver Brasil invites you to learn from these leaders, all while enjoying concerts, opportunities to purchase custom art, jewelry, clothing, eating amazing food & sun-bathing on the beautiful beaches of Salvador, Bahia.

This trip is for the curious traveler, who is looking for a culturally rich experience. The seeker will explore the nuances of Afro-Brazilian culture, witness sacred Candomblé ceremonies and study Brazilian history with Bahian elders. You’ll leave the trip with a complete understanding of the influence that the African Diaspora had on Brazil.

experience life in Bahia

You’ll be in good hands while on the trip. Led by Artistic Directors Linda Yudin and Luiz Badaró, Yudin has lived and visited Bahia for over thirty years, while Badaró is a Bahia native, who is a renowned Dance Mestre (teacher) in the Brazilian arts community. Over the sixteen-day trip, they’ll take you on an experience beyond a typical vacation; a local cultural adventure, that includes:

• Enjoy the sounds and the colors of Salvador Bahia, the most African city of the Americas. Walk through the century-old streets in this city known as a heritage of humanity and recognized by UNESCO as the Creative City of Music.

• 8 days of Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes in orixá dance movement, samba de roda, caboclo dances, orixá chants, dança afro, dances of the blocos afro with Bahia’s internationally renowned master instructors, including Vera Passos, Marcio Fidelis, Amilton Lino, Dude Conceiçao, Tati Campelo, Vânia Oliveira, Jose Ricardo, Nildinha Fonseca and Gilmar Sampaio.

• Percussion classes with Viviam Caroline of YAYA MUXIMA and possibly with Mario Pam of Bloco afro Ilê Aiye

• Meet with many of Bahia’s most important cultural makers and spiritual leaders, such as world-renowned visual artist J. Cunha; Artist, Poet, Activist, Guellwaar Adun and writer, activist Melissa Adun of Oguns Toques; Ekedy Sinha of Terreiro Casa Branca; and enjoy an afternoon of storytelling with griot Iya Agba Cici de Oxala.

• Attend a performance of the Bale Folclorico da Bahia.

• Partake in an Afro-Bahian Cooking Class with Marlene da Costa of Quintal de Yayá.

• Spend a day at a Candomblé Temple for an orixá dance and song class, learn how to make acarajé, and meet with practitioners of the tradition.

• Witness sacred Candomblé ceremonies.

• Visit Bahia’s most important museums: MUNCAB, Casa de Carnaval, Museum of Contemporary Art and Museum of Modern Art.

• Attend the world-renowned Boa Morte Festival with the Irmandade da Boa Morte/the Sisterhood of the Good Death in the city of Cachoeira.

• Enjoy a weekend trip to coastal beach town to be announced…

• Shop for brilliantly designed silver and gold jewelry, visual art, unique Afro-Brazilian clothing, and more and more!

• Visit the São Joaquim Market

• Swim in the beautiful beaches of Salvador, Bahia

Pricing - Aug 8-24, 2026

PACKAGE PRICE: $4,400 for Single Occupancy & **$3,950 for Double Occupancy

Package Price is inclusive of the following:

• 16 night accommodations at both the Monte Pascoal Hotel located in the Farol da Barra neighborhood AND the (TBD) resort for the beach weekend trip

• Ground transportation (including airport pickup and drop-offs)

• 8 days of Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes and related activities/excursions

• Translators & guides

• Hearty breakfast at the hotel

NOT included in package price: airfare (scroll down for more details), visa costs, daily lunch or dinner, and souvenirs/shopping

**Double occupancy is available, IF the traveler has a roommate preselected (perfect for couples, best friends, family members, etc traveling together). VB will not provide a roommate.**

[ ! ] VISA REQUIREMENT:  Electronic Visitor Visa (e-Visa) - U.S., Canadian & Australian Citizens - via https://www.gov.br/:

Citizens traveling with passports from Australia, Canada and the United States visiting Brazil for tourism and business will be subject to visa requirements for entry into Brazilian territory starting from April 10th, 2025. These citizens can require e-Visas through the portal https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/.

Please start this e-Visa process as soon as possible. The website recommends completing this process at least two months before travel to provide sufficient leeway to complete and/or rectify your visa application if necessary.

AIRFARE

OPTION 1:  Participants book & purchase their own Round Trip ticket (Origin City to Salvador International Airport - SSA).

Departure to Salvador, Bahia: Approx. Aug 8, 2026 

Departure to the US or your home destination Aug 24, 2026

OPTION 2: Flight Coordination with Sonder Travel

Sonder Travel is partnering with Viver Brasil to assist Dancing at the Source 2026 participants with flight coordination and booking for the upcoming program in Bahia, August 8–26, 2026.

For $50 per person, Sonder will handle all logistics for your roundtrip international and domestic flights, including your flight from your home city to São Paulo and the connecting flight to Bahia. We’ll ensure your travel aligns with program timing, confirm your itinerary with Viver Brasil, and coordinate your return flights home.

Please send an email to karina.desroses@viverbrasil.com for more information. 

Payment Deadline

“This cultural immersion program gave me experiences beyond my wildest imagination. Linda Yudin has spent years cultivating extraordinary relationships with the grassroots artist/candomblé community of Bahia, and she happily shares these extraordinary dancers, choreographers, and sacred grandmothers in what can only be described as a life-altering two weeks. I danced beyond my limits, laughed, healed some personal struggles, and made a handful of amazing women friends. This is no tourist trip—it is a real immersion into Bahian life and culture the spiritual, the physical, and the emotional.”

— Marlowe Moore (Writer / Dancer)

“Linda Yudin offers a travel/dance program like no other, she gives us the golden key to the city and we become privy to the heart of Salvador, Bahia. Viver Brasil’s travel program offers educators, storytellers, elders of the land, and masters of the dance. We sweat with dancers in the studio by day, and dance with the people in the streets at night. We float on salty seas in the late afternoon munching on shrimp and drinking from coconuts. We stand steeped in a rich history that we get a chance to explore in some way everyday.”

— Lauren McMillan (Social Worker / Dancer)

“I’ve gone to Bahia with Viver Brasil three times. As a travel writer, I’ve always looked for authenticity and the real essence of the place in my travels. Viver Brasil’s Bahia Travel Program offers these and much more. Linda is an encyclopedia of Afro-Brazilian dance and culture, and through her program, you’ll meet and learn from those in the forefront of Salvador’s Afro-Brazilian dance, ritual, and music.”

— Vicky Iskandar (Journalist / Dancer)

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip: we danced with top artists, studied Bahian culture and history with noted scholars, and participated in the West African-based religion candomblé ceremonies with highly regarded priests and priestesses. Linda and the Viver Brasil team were very well organized, transportation was comfortable, and we had access to people we wouldn’t have if we had toured the city on our own.”

— Angelina Arrington (Educator / Dancer / former VB Board Chair)