Photo courtesy of Cool Cleveland
Samba da Cidade (SDC), or “Samba of the City” in Portuguese, is a Cleveland-based samba school that brings together percussionists and dancers of all levels and ages to learn, play, dance, 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.
Our Mission
Our mission is to bring ordinary Clevelanders together in celebration of community through music. During weekly classes and rehearsals, SDC director Dylan Moffitt nurtures and instructs members as they develop into skilled samba practitioners. SDC also creates opportunities for our percussionists to take workshops and special classes with invited master drummers of international stature. Past instructors include Mestre Beiçola and Jorge Alabê, and Mark Lamson. Through these methods, we have created a diverse, intergenerational high-energy ensemble of drummers and dancers that brings the spirit of samba to the North Coast.