NICHOLA LANGHAM
Director & Instructor
Nichola started dancing in 2011 taking classes in Salsa and Bachata and discovered Samba in 2012 at Subsdance studio in Canberra. In 2013 she travelled around South America and after spending 2 months traveling from the north down through to the south of Brazil, she fell in love with Brazilian music, culture, attitude and way of life. Freshly inspired and hungry for more she continued her training in Samba as well as Afro Brazilian dance in Canberra and returned to Rio again in 2015.
In 2016 Nichola moved to London and continued her Samba training and started performing across London with the DanceMyWay company before joining the London School of Samba in 2018. With the London School of Samba she trained with a range of instructors and performed at various events most notably the 2019 Notting Hill Carnival, Britain's got more talent (BGMT), the London New Year’s Day Parade (2019 &2020) and the Coburg Samba Festival in Germany 2019.
In 2020 Nichola fulfilled her long term goal and paraded in Rio Carnaval with Imperio da Tijuca in their International Samba Ala - an experience she says was one she'll never forget and can't wait to repeat. The challenge of training in the months leading up to Carnaval as well as the experience of training in Brazil and attending the Brazilian Samba congress left her with an even deeper respect and passion for Samba and Brazilian culture.
In April 2020 while still in the UK in Lockdown Nichola kept up her training online and joined Alex Coutinho and Alessandra Jansen and their 'Poderosas do Samba' project which she has continued with to the present day.
In June 2021 after relocating back to Canberra from London Nichola joined Escola de Samba Canberra and started teaching classes and Co-directing the school before forming Só Samba Canberra in 2022.
In January 2023 Nichola went back to Brazil to train and immerse herself in the culture in the weeks leading up to the Rio Carnaval. As well as regular training, classes and being in the samba school communities in Rio, Nichola paraded as a passista with União de Jacarepaguá through Samba Internacional as well also parading with Paraiso do Tuiuti and Em Cima da Hora through Alex Coutinho. Nichola loves to teach and share her passion and experience of Brazilian dance and culture with the Canberra community.
KATE THORNBER
Instructor
Kate started dancing at a young age, trialling ballet, Jazz and Hip-Hop before focussing her energy on Irish dancing for 12 years. After a couple of years off throughout university, Kate found her passion for dancing again when she first tried a Samba class in 2018. Kate loved the way Samba made her soul feel and enjoyed the discipline and challenge of learning a new dance style. Kate also fell in love with the different rhythms of Brazilian music and began learning Baile Funk to add in some extra flavour into her Samba!
In 2020 Kate travelled to Brazil to parade in Rio Carnaval with Unidos do Porto da Pedra in their International Samba Ala. This opportunity redefined what it meant to dance Samba no pé for Kate and opened her eyes up to the culture and community behind the dance. Having the opportunity to learn from the best Samba dancers in the world through intensive workshops and the Brazilian Samba congress, Kate left Brazil with a deeper understanding and respect for the art. Parading down the Sambodrómo Avenida was one of the best experiences of Kate’s life and a feeling she'll never forget (and can’t wait to do again!)
Coming back to Australia, Kate took up the opportunity to train online with Escola de Samba and Nubia Santos throughout lockdown. This pushed her to refine and train her Samba technique before joining Escola de Samba in Canberra when face-to-face classes resumed. Kate is so excited to continue strengthening her knowledge and love of Samba and can’t wait to share this through teaching others.
RACHAEL LAWRENCE
Instructor
Rachael started dancing salsa at Salsabor dance school after falling in love with the feeling of dance when travelling through Peru. It wasn't long before the rhythm of samba called her to the samba class across the hallway and the commitment to samba began in 2017.
Rachael continued her samba training at Subsdance Dance Studio while also dabbling in drumming with the local Canberra bateria, Raio de Sol. Rachael has learnt samba from a range of teachers with a strong personal focus on technique and executing movements with precision. After joining Escola de Samba Canberra in 2021 – now Só Samba Canberra - she found a home to explore the different styles of samba as well as the deep cultural roots with the benefit of being influenced by many Brazilian artists who are well respected in the samba world.
In February 2023, Rachael travelled to Rio de Janeiro and paraded in Carnaval with both Unidos de Padre Miguel in their Passista Ala and Unidos de Bangu in their International Ala with Samba Internacional. This experience deepened her knowledge of samba after taking classes with the top teachers and artists while in Rio and it has also helped her distinguish the style differences across the schools.
Rachael started teaching at Só Samba in 2023 and enjoys sharing her love of samba and passion for the rich culture that backs this style in their beginner and drills classes.
