Outreach past and present

When the London School of Samba was set up in 1984, our founders envisaged outreach work in the local community as a central part of our activities. In this spirit, LSS has been offering open access workshops and outreach programs since day 1.  At one notable session led by Outreach director -Mestre Mags, children from the Rise Phoenix project were unable to access the instruments. Undeterred, he took the kids to a nearby youth club and held the rehearsal in the playground in true Brasil style, using knives and forks, plates, dustbins and any other objects they could get our hands on. It was unbelievable – not a single drum between them, but still able to make a samba.  “…It really made me think of what it must be like sometimes in the home of samba, the favelas of Rio.” – Mestre Mags.