Meet your PRESIDENTE & DIRETORA DE PASSISTAS

Liani has taught and performed Brazilian Samba for over a decade in London and has trained and performed every year in Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval as a professional samba dancer (Passista) since 2018. She is part of the best professional samba dancers’ group in Rio de Janeiro, the Passistas at Acadêmicos do Salgueiro, with director Carlinhos Salgueiro. 

Her knowledge of Brazilian culture comes from the fact that she was born and raised in Santos, SP, and lived in Brazil for 29 years of her life (participating in many Carnavals in Bahia, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). Every year, she spends 6 to 8 weeks in Rio de Janeiro rehearsing and preparing for the Carnaval season there. She also attended university courses on Afro-Brazilian culture and Brazilian history (RJ).

In Europe, she trained and organised her students to perform at many carnivals and summer festivals since 2018, including Acton Carnival, Notting Hill Carnival, Paris Carnaval Tropical, Hackney Carnival, Kennington Festival, and Watford Carnival. She has participated in several TV and radio shows at BBC, the latest one in August 2024, BBC News Channel, where she talked about Império da Rainha community and the importance of the Brazilian bands in Notting Hill Carnival. 

She created her samba dance group in 2018, the Samba de Rainha, and in 2021, she became the resident Brazilian Samba teacher at the best dance studios in London, Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden.