Daniela Porto
Daniela
("Dani") Porto is a
native of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil. She started dancing at a
young age, and took a variety of dance workshops
that included hip hop, belly dancing and ballroom dancing. Although
Dani came from a family that was not very passionate about dancing
or samba, she always wanted to know more about samba music, dance and
history.
At 16 years old Dani had the
chance to take Axé classes (a form of samba) at her gym - which further
fueled her love of samba. She danced with this teacher's
group for 3 years, learning dance technique and how to create choreography.
She later had the opportunity to dance with a local "escola de samba"
(samba school) in Porto Alegre, where she improved her rio style samba.
Dani has been in Seattle about three years, and is excited
to be dancing with Tudo Beleza.