Samba da Cidade (SDC), or “Samba of the City” in Portuguese, is a Cleveland-based samba school that brings together percussionists of all levels and ages to learn, play, and perform samba and other rhythms inspired by the African Diaspora in Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere. Created and directed by Cleveland drummer and percussionist Dylan Moffitt (B. Mus., M. Mus., Cleveland Institute of Music), SDC is modeled after Rio de Janeiro’s escolas de samba, the grass-roots organizations that prepare communities for the Carnaval parade. SDC emerged in the summer of 2021, during the pandemic-induced isolation, when a handful of drummers began attending classes in Cleveland’s Wade Oval park on Sunday evenings. What began as an effort to alleviate seclusion transformed into a thriving ensemble.