Dancing
at the Source
Viver Brasil’s Annual Travel Program
DANCING AT THE SOURCE in collaboration with Casa de Cultura SoMovimento
We are thrilled to offer our signature 16-day cultural exchange and immersion program to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, after a hiatus due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Since 1997, VB's Dancing at the Source program has provided for the intentional traveler, dance and music enthusiasts (both beginner and advanced), 8 days of Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes taught by master faculty, who are among Bahia’s most influential dancers, musicians, visual artists, researchers, and culture makers. After our dance and music classes, the program offers daily activities to experience life in Bahia with an eclectic range of activities. You will explore the nuances of Afro-Brazilian culture and actively experience Afro-Brazilian history with VB's family of activists and spiritual leaders.
Through first-hand experiences, travelers will connect and learn from many of Bahia’s top performing artists, spiritual leaders, visual artists, socially conscious thinkers, and educators to advance their historical understanding of Afro-Brazilian traditional and contemporary culture.
Read more about Dancing at the Source in the LA Times feature article
learn at the source of afro-Brazilian dance, music, & culture
During western slavery, 12 million slaves were transported from West Africa and sent to the Americas: 20% died in the middle passage and 40% settled in Brazil.
Sounds like a shocker – but if you’ve ever visited Brazil, you’ll quickly notice the rich African culture. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil was the largest Brazilian harbor to transport African slaves into Brazil. Because of its history, 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 not for everyone but instead for the curious traveler, who’s looking for a culturally rich experience. This 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 dancer / teacher in the Brazilian arts community. Over the fifteen-day trip, they’ll take you on an experience beyond a typical vacation, that’s booked by a hotel concierge, but instead a local cultural adventure, that includes:
8 days of Afro-Brazilian dance and music classes with Bahia’s internationally renowned master instructors.
Encounters with many of Bahia’s most active cultural makers.
Visit the Pierre Verger Foundation with an afternoon of storytelling by Ebomi Cici.
Attend dance and music concerts including Grupo Bahia Axé, the Bale Folclorico da Bahia and Dida Women’s Percussion Ensemble, to name a few.
Experience Afro-Bahian cuisine.
Swim and sunbathe on the beautiful beaches of Salvador, Bahia and the Linha Verde/Green Line Coast.
Spend a day at a Candomblé Temple for an orixa dance and song class, learn how to make acarajé, meet with practitioners of the tradition.
Witness sacred Candomblé ceremonies and the São Lázaro Festival.
Shop for gemstones, visual art, uniquely Afro-Brazilian clothing, and more!
Enjoy weekend trips to Cachoeira and other coastal towns in Bahia. Walk in the world-renowned Boa Morte Festival with the Irmandade da Boa Morte/the Sisterhood of the Good Death. While in Cachoeira, we will spend time with the family of Fory Dias do Nascimento and Alzira Costa. Fory is an internationally acclaimed artist/sculptor and Dona Alzira is journalist/historian.
Coastal beach towns to be determined!
Pricing
Full payment must be made by July 15, 2025.
PACKAGE PRICE: Package Price: $4,400 for Single Occupancy and **$3,950 for double occupancy accommodations at the Monte Pascoal Hotel located in the Farol da Barra neighborhood, all classes and related activities, translators, guides, ground transportation, and a hearty breakfast at the hotel.
**Double occupancy is available, if a roommate is preselected. VB will not provide a roommate. **
AIRFARE IS NOT INCLUDED. Participants must purchase their own R/T ticket (US City/SSA/US City).
Departure to Salvador, Bahia: Aug 2, 2025
Departure to the US or your home destination Aug 18, 2025
* Please check with your country’s Visa travel requirements for to travel to Brazil. Visa costs are NOT included in package price. Lunch and dinner is also not included.
Payment Plans are available upon request.
Please send an email to karina.desroses@viverbrasil.com for more information.
The non-refundable deposit is required by
June 15, 2025.
Non-Refundable Fee
$850.00
Double Occupancy
$3,850.00
Single Occupancy
$4,400
[ ! ] Important: A tourist visa may be required to travel to Brazil. This cost is NOT included in package price. For more information on obtaining a travel visa, please visit one of the following Consulate-General of Brazil sites:
Full list of Consulate-General of Brazil offices in the United States
About our leaders…
Linda Yudin, Viver Brasil’s Artistic Director
Linda is a trained dance ethnologist who has devoted more than three decades to researching, performing, and teaching Afro-Brazilian dance and culture.
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.
Vera Passos, Our Dancing Queen
Vera Passos is one of the most sought after Afro-Brazilian dancers in the world. Rosangela Silvestre’s protégé, Passos has taught her technique since 2002 in Salvador and throughout Brazil, South America, Europe and the US. Her extensive technique seamlessly encompasses modern dance, classical ballet, dança afro, jazz, and traditional Afro-Brazilian. Vera has danced for Jorge Silva Dance Company and the acclaimed Balé Folclórico da Bahia touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Asia, the US and South America.The Los Angeles Times recently called Vera “... exotic, strong but sylph-like.”
Our Dancing at the Source team includes Linda Yudin, Luiz Badaró, Vera Passos, Paula Santos, Vania Oliveira, Jose Ricardo Sousa, Gilmar Sampaio, Tatiana Campelo, Viviam Caroline of Timbaladies, and Afro-Brazilian storyteller, Egbomi Cici among other important leaders in our community.
Photo Credits: Authur Seabra and Bianca Medina*** PLEASE NOTE:
Effective April 10, 2025, a Tourist Visa is required to travel to Brazil. For more information, please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado-los-angeles/english/visas/visitor-visa-vivis-u-s-canada-and-australia-citizens-only
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)