Casa Samba: Twenty-One Years of Amerizilian Identity in New Orleans1

Samba drumming and dance traditions work in New Orleans in ways that they do not elsewhere. Casa Samba, a drumming and dance troupe in the tradition of the Brazilian escolas de samba, shows how it works. Integral to this analysis of Casa Samba are the ways in which the group's identity and the identities of its individual members are processual, mutable, and "unfinished, always being remade" (Gilroy 1993:xi). This thesis examines how Casa Samba has situated itself in the New Orleans music scene. This work seeks, through ethnographic interviews with long term members, to identify what makes Casa Samba attractive to New Orleanians who choose to join this musical troupe as opposed to the myriad of other musical organizations available. Finally, this thesis looks at Casa Samba's post-Katrina rebirth and the ways in which the group's willingness to continuously evolve throughout its history has made this rebirth possible.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Urban Planning and Regional Studies

Year

2008

Author dc:creator

• Lastrapes, Lauren E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ehrenreich, Jeffrey
• Gladstone, David
• Spitzer, Nicholas

• Identity
• samba
• New Orleans
• Casa Samba
• Hurricane Katrina
• dance
• drumming
• escolas de samba
• carnival
• Mardi Gras
• Brazil

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/891

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1871