Classes
Wednesday: Afro-Brazilian Fusion
- Level: ALL
- Day: Wednesday
- Time: 19:30-21:00
- Fee: £14
- Starts on the 4th November 2026
Classes bookable HERE from one week ahead.
Biography
Performer, Teacher, Choreographer and Capoeirista, Adriano Oliveira from Porto Seguro, Brazil trained in both traditional African and Afro-Brazilian dance before joining the dance company “Axè Odara” known across all of Brazil for its experimental research in Afro-Brazilian culture.
Adriano arrived in Europe in 2001, settling in Italy via Paris and Berlin, where he concentrated more time on teaching. In 2003 Adriano began work with several not-for-profit organisations, travelling regularly to Burkina Faso to deepen his knowledge of traditional west-African rhythms and percussion.
In 2016 Adriano relocated to London where he has taught at Danceworks, Brixton House Theatre, The Place, Mountview and Siobhan Davies. He has also taught at Kingston University and Mountview as a visiting lecturer specialising in African Dance and is a regular guest teacher at the London School of Samba collaborating with them for the annual Notting Hill Carnival. For the past two years, he joined forces with Mac Dendê of Dendê Nation where they were the winning Brazilian band for Sunday parade in 2025 and 2026!
Adriano has been involved in several Arts Council funded projects as well as organising his own non-funded Afro-Brazilian Arts & Dance events including the fourth annual Capoeira Batizado for his group Capoeira Sul Da Bahia London and Vontade.
Class Description
The Brazilian descendants of Africa may have forgotten their original language, but their bodies still pass down through the generations the universal language of rhythm. Africa re-lived and recalled at a distance as an ancestral base in every melody and in every graceful movement. Forget positions of the body which encourage conventional posture and let yourselves go to the rhythm of the drums which move the soul and can’t help but vibrate your body. Think powerful flexing and pulsing of the torso, pelvic thrusts, and shoulder rolls juxtaposed with undulations of the vertebrae and sensual body isolations.
Adriano takes you back through time treasuring every experience and every journey which has contributed to his unique style and training. He mixes different genres and styles of dance such as contemporary, modern, and traditional west-African but he is always faithful to his Afro-Brazilian roots.
Adriano’s main focus and objective is that his students feel the freedom to let go and connect with the music. He isn’t interested in perfect, classical technique but rather that individual expression and interpretation of movement is evident from each student and most of all that they enjoy the most basic of gifts that each of us possesses within…DANCE!
