(26) The origins of the musical genre, and its name are not completely agreed upon, it is thought that the word Samba is an amalgam of the word, semba, a Bantu word meaning to pray or invoke the African gods and as a noun it was meant as something akin to "the blues" a cry or complaint. (Barad NP) the word was further expanded to be connected to the name of a Brazilian priestess, a Samba, who was at the center of a religious dance of a specific style and rhythm
"The samba is a call to wild, mass movement, an orgy of percussion, not the structured rhythmic base for improvisation that came from the fusions of African rhythms and courtly European dances in Cuba.' (Morales 26) Samba has a following all over the world as an encompassing form of music with specialized instrumentation and rhythm that is infectious and frequently amalgamated with other forms of popular music to create even more diversity and development
It is also, in modern context linked to the Brazilian Carnaval and has come to symbolize the rich diversity of the nation of Brazil, and racial harmony and tolerance. (Nkowane NP) The music itself is a moving and frenzied cacophony of sound that envelopes the listener, and dance in much the same way that religious experiences do
When one sees pictures of people dancing at Carnival in Rio, it is the Samba. A Samba dancer is known in Brazil as a Sambista" (Baker, 2007)
Another author notes, "Samba is basically a musical construction made with a binary time and a syncopated rhythm. On the top of this basic form all types of samba are formulated" (Yami, 2002)