Brazilian Day Santa Barbara 2025

Mariano Silva brought us another energetic Brazilian Day Santa Barbara to De La Guerra Plaza and Casa de la Guerra.

A variety of Brazilian music and dancing, with plenty of crowd participation. And quite a variety of other cultural performances as well.

Here are my photos. Here are my videos.

The event ran from early morning into the evening, so I was only capturing the middle part. For much of the time I was there, drumming and singing were happening on the main stage.

I missed one of the big dance performances in the morning, but my friend Clau Orona posed with her friend Ulysses in their full costumes. Clau is a long time Solstice costume designer and performer. And she is also on the Solvang City Council (and currently Mayor Pro Tem)! So, you may recognize her!

The crowd was dancing in a big way in rhythm with the drumming and singing.

One of the dancers, Clara (in shorts), called out to me and posed with her friend Ari. Clara is from Brazil and is a UCSB grad student in Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology. She recognized me from campus.

Of course there was food. Rice and beans with a generous serving of beef or chicken.

Over at De La Guerra Plaza many multicultural performances were happening. DJ Darla Bea was providing the music and Hector Sanchez was choreographing some of the dancing. Here they posed together.

UCSB Iaorana Te Otea (ITO) performed Polynesian dancing in several rounds. At this moment I felt honored to feel as if they were performing just for me!

Here I have merged four of my videos of their performances.

Hector Sanchez not only choreographs dances, he also performs. With super human strength and gracefulness. Here he performed with Ella Schultz.

Then Mocha McKenzie (center) performed with her “Strut Don’t Stress” burlesque group. They kindly posed for me, too!

Yulia Maluta is another choreographer and dancer who creates big events around town. You have probably seen my coverage of her “Colors of Love” events that happen twice a year. Yulia also performs in Solstice. She is usually dancing with a partner or in a large group. Here she danced her own solo creation.

Deepa Dawson performed a classical Indian dance form called Bharatanatyam. She explained, “The choreography was by my teacher, Sri Sheejith Krishna, an esteemed exponent of Bharatanatyam and director of Sahrdaya Foundation from Chennai, India.” Deepa also noted that she also runs a dance school: Naadabhoomi Dance Academy in Santa Barbara, teaching students of all ages. She asked that I not share my video because of her teacher’s copyright. But I will share this one photo of her skillful performance.

The Bikini Models Fashion Show was a highlight of the Festival. Here the models kindly posed for me. Katie Beccio (in purple) is another Solstice artist and regular performer who you may recognize.

Here is my video of their full performance.

You can see more fashion show photos in my full photo set.

Here you can learn more about the Brazilian Cultural Arts Center of Santa Barbara and learn to dance and perform! Or just get fit and have fun! https://www.capoeira805.com/