Sizzling dance for summer

Brazil may have dribbled out of the World Cup without treating us to their customary sparkle, but heading our way is a timely reminder of the hip-swivelling rhythms and sultry passions that are the nation's trademark. And it comes in the shape of Sadler's Wells' dance spectacle Brasil Brasileiro.

The brainchild of veteran director Claudio Segovia, Brasil Brasileiro tells the story of how a nation's arts, and in this case a dance, can capture the essence of its life and bring its people together.

'All of my shows - flamenco, tango, jazz and blues, rumba and now samba - try to tell the musical story of the people,' says Segovia, who was actually born in Argentina - but more on that later.

'And in each of them the music is the thread through which the story is told. What they have in common is that, though the cultures were formed in adversity, they developed to become their main national music.'

No one dances quite like the Brazilians and Brasil Brasileiro is built around their trademark, the samba. From the simple formula of basic forward and backward steps allied to syncopated rocking body movements, a finely tuned samba couple can whip up a carnival of emotions - and Brasil Brasileiro is stuffed to the rafters with top-notch performers, including 50 dancers and musicians poised to invade the stage. It promises to be a riot of colour and spectacle, an open invitation to party.

But, though there's a hedonistic party spirit in the air, the festival is built on deeper foundations than simply strutting some fancy steps. The crossover from spontaneous street dance to the big stage is underlined by the starring role of Sorriso, a 40-year-old streetsweeper whom Segovia spotted performing in the legendary Rio Carnival.

'I saw him doing his celebrated walk through the Sambódromo (Rio's carnival parade avenue) and I was fascinated by his art and by the fact that a man, dancing on his own, was acclaimed with passion by the audience, just as they do when a samba school parades by with thousands of people in it.'

But Brasil Brasileiro is not simply samba. Intent on reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of modern Brazil, Segovia has made room for a host of styles, from the well known, such as the martial arts-based capoeira, to less familiar folk styles such as the accordion-driven forro and the navel-thrusting umbigada.

'Brazil has such a rich variety of musical expressions, in which different currents meld together. For example there's the Blues Walk, when you see how a foreign music becomes Brazilian, and a "rap" that Jair Rodrigues first sang 30 years ago.' So rap was born in Brazil? Given the way Brazilian influences have fed through the arts, it's hard to argue against it.

Segovia's own interest in Brazil stemmed from his father's love of the country's music. During his childhood in Buenos Aires, he was taken to see many of the greats of Brazil's golden age of popular music in the 1940s and 1950s.