PROFILE

Introduction to the COPA CABANA SAMBA TEAM

VANUSA SANTIAGO

Samba Dancer

I am the lead dancer of the samba team ‘Beija-Flor’ from the city of Rio de Janeiro. Beija-Flor is a winning samba team in the Rio de Janeiro carnival of 2015, 2018 and runner-up in 2022. Since I was young, I started dancing samba and at 18 years old, I joined a samba production and started my career as a professional dancer. Currently, I lead the samba team that I manage and participate in special events at major hotels, companies and schools in the Kansai region.

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ALEXANDER DA SILVA CASTRO

Creator

Alex’s first encounter with samba was in 2007 when he was tasked with designing costumes for a samba school at the carnival factory. In 2009, he designed and created costumes and floats for the Beija-Flor team and was praised by many. The following year, he was also charged with designing costumes for the most popular dancers of Beija-Flor. Today, he is a famous creator around the world, designing costumes for top dancers, celebrities, models, and also in America and Europe, as well as designing for samba teams in Japan!

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Anísio Abraão David, Honorary President.

Aniz Abraão David is the Honorary President of the Samba School Beija-Flor in Nilópolis.

Visssel Kobe Stadium 2022

I participated in an event at the Bissel Kobe Stadium green space, which is also the home base of the professional soccer team “Bissel Kobe”, and performed samba dance. I was enjoyed by many people.

Kobe Festival 2018

Vanusa’s samba team “Beija-Flor”, which participated in the largest festival in Brazil, the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, chose the theme “Iserama, the heroine of a story of love that transcends human rights” as the theme of Kobe Festival. They participated with a float that gave the feeling of the Amazonian indigenous costume and jungle atmosphere.

Kobe Festival 2019

The theme of the Kobe Festival in 2019 was ‘Celebrate! The 50th Anniversary of Kobe and Rio de Janeiro as Sister Cities’ and Vanusa’s affiliated ‘Beija-Flor’ participated with a parade to commemorate its 70th anniversary. The float used beautiful costumes made in the authentic Rio de Janeiro and decorations used in this year’s Rio Carnival, giving the atmosphere of the real festival.

TV media 'SU・MATAN'

I appeared as a semi-regular on a Japanese TV media and also starred in a commercial for a coffee drink.