DANCING
AT THE SOURCE
Viver Brasil’s Cultural Immersion Travel Progam
learn at the source of
afro-Brazilian
dance, music, & culture
16-Day cultural immersion to BAHIA, BRAZIL
August 1-17, 2020
Viver Brasil invites you to Dancing at the Source, a cultural immersion trip in Bahia, Brazil. This trip is for the intentional traveler, dance and music enthusiast (both beginner and advanced) and African Diaspora lover who’s looking for an authentic cultural exchange experience. You will explore the nuances of Afro-Brazilian culture, witness sacred Candomblé ceremonies and study Afro-Brazilian history with Bahian elders and contemporary masters. You’ll leave the trip with a comprehensive understanding of Brazil in the African Diaspora.
For over 20 years, Dancing at the Source has provided travelers with curated cultural tours, along with daily Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes taught by local master faculty. The trip leaders have developed deep professional and personal involvement with the arts and spiritual communities of Bahia.
During the Transatlantic Enslavement, 12 million enslaved Africans were transported from West Africa and sent to the Americas: 20% died in the middle passage and 40% settled in Brazil. Salvador, Bahia, was the largest Brazilian harbor to receive enslaved African people into Brazil. Because of its history, Salvador’s rich African legacy resonates in every aspect of its history and culture. This Afro-Diasporic haven is home to Bahia’s most active spiritual leaders, visual and performing artists, political activists, thinkers and educators.
DANCING AT THE SOURCE PROGRAM INCLUDES
8 days of Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes with Bahia’s internationally renowned master instructors. Confirmed: Dona Cici, Vera Passos, Tatiana Campelo, Vania Oliveira, Gilmar Sampaio, Jose Ricardo Sousa, Viviam Caroline, among others.
Meet many of Bahia’s most active culture makers.
Attend music and dance concerts; visit museums and local artists’ studios.
Enjoy unique Bahian cuisine.
Swim and sunbathe in the beautiful beaches of Salvador, Bahia.
Witness sacred Candomblé ceremonies and the São Lázaro Festival.
Attend performances by the Bale Folclorico da Bahia and Dida Women’s Percussion Ensemble.
Walk in the world-renowned Boa Morte Sisterhood Festival in Cachoeira.
Take a weekend trip to the beautifully relaxing island of Boipeba stay in the Pousada Santa Clara, enjoy serene beaches and walk in the Atlantic Forest.
Visit Boitaraca Quilombo, an Afro-Brazilian/Indigenous community founded by escaped enslaved peoples in Boipeba.
Dancing at the Source is led by Viver Brasil Artistic Directors Linda Yudin, Luiz Badaró and Expert in Afro-Brazilian Cultural Tours Paulo Santos. Yudin has devoted more than three decades researching, performing and teaching Afro-Brazilian dance and spirituality. Badaró is a Bahia native, who is a renowned dancer, choreographer and teacher in the Brazilian arts community. Santos is a Brazilian native, tour consultant and tour guide providing socially and educationally engaged tours. Over the fifteen-day trip, they will take you on an intentional Afro-Diasporic cultural adventure.
PLEASE NOTE: Effective June 17, 2019, all U.S., Australian, Canadian and Japanese nationals will be waived from Visit Visa requirement. Passport holders from other nations may be subject to visa acquirement for this trip. To see if you need a visa, please refer to the Brazilian Consulate Website.
Viver Brasil takes you to the source.
Read more about Dancing at the Source in the LA Times feature article
Pricing
Both packages include R/T travel to Brazil from all major U.S cities, hotel accommodations and a hearty breakfast (lunch and dinner not included) in the Barra Neighborhood of Salvador, Bahia, all classes and related activities, translators, guides and ground transportation.
PACKAGE 2
Single Occupancy [Private Hotel Accommodations]
$4,750.00
*5% Processing Fee for Credit Card Payments
Non-Refundable Deposit
$750.00
*Deposit will go towards overall package price.
PACKAGE 1
Double Occupancy [Shared Hotel Accommodations]
$4,150.00
*5% Processing Fee for Credit Card Payments
Non-Refundable Deposit
$750.00
*Deposit will go towards overall package price.
non-refundable deposit is required by MarcH 30, 2020
Full payment MUST BE MADE by June 15, 2020
Payment Plans are available upon request.
Contact Viver Brasil's Executive Director at info@viverbrasil.com for more information.
Dancing at the source leaders
Linda Yudin, Viver Brasil’s Artistic Director
Linda is a Los Angeles based internationally recognized dance ethnologist with three decades of experience studying, researching and working in Bahia in the field of Afro-Brazilian dance, education, performance, spirituality and cultural tourism.
Luiz Badaró, Viver Brasil’s Artistic Director
Badaró is a native son of Bahia with over thirty years teaching Afro-Brazilian dance, choreographing and playing percussion. His choreographies exalt the intense love he has for his culture and its preservation and development.
Paula Santos, Tour Guide Extraordinaire
Paula has been involved in socially conscious tourism in Bahia since the early 1980s. Her knowledge of Afro-Brazilian history, literature, media, visual art and gender issues provides a deepened context in which to understand the complexity and beauty of Afro-Brazilian culture.
TESTIMONIALS
“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)
