(Feel free to dance to any other samba music on non-birthday days!)
Note: The ‘a’ count is a count slightly slower than usual ‘&’ count. Use ball foot and knees on the ‘a’ counts to raise the sexy samba hips! This dance is made simple so that anyone can dance to it in a birthday party!
Dance starts at approximately 0:30 when the samba beats kicks in. Sing along and gesture to the birthday boy/girl!
RIGHT BOTAFOGO, LEFT BOTAFOGO, FULL VOLTA TURN RIGHT
1 a2
Cross RF over LF (11:30), Step ball of LF to left side, Recover on RF (1:30)
3 a4
Cross LF over RF (1:30), Step ball of RF to right side, Recover of LF (11:30)
5a
¼ turn R crossing RF over LF, Step on ball of LF slightly behind RF
6a7a8
Repeat 5a 3 more times to make a full turn facing the front wall again.
LEFT SAMBA WHISK, RIGHT SAMBA WHISK, WALK BACK 4 COUNTS + SHOULDER SHIMMIES
1 a2
LF take big step to left, Step ball of RF slightly behind LF, Recover on LF
3 a4
RF take a big step to right, Step ball of LF slightly behind RF, Recover on RF
5 - 8
Step LF back, Step RF back, Step LF back, Step RF back
Do shoulder shimmies when you walk these 4 counts back
BACK SAMBA BASIC, ¼ TURN FORWARD SAMBA BASIC, DIAGONAL LOCK STEPS
1 a2
Step LF back, Step ball of RF slightly in front of LF, Recover on LF
3 a4
¼ turn right by stepping RF forward, Step ball of LF slightly behind RF, Recover on RF (3:00)
5a
Step LF diagonally left forward, Lock ball of RF slightly behind LF
6a7a
Repeat 5a 2 more times
8
Step LF diagonally forward
You’ll be moving towards 1:30 on counts 5-8
RIGHT AND LEFT CORTA JACA’S
1a2a3a
Press heel of RF across LF, Recover on LF, Press ball of RF diagonally right back, Recover on LF, Press heel of RF across LF, Recover on LF (1:30)
4
Step RF to right side (squaring back to 3:00)
5a6a7a
Press heel of LF across RF, Recover on RF, Press ball of LF diagonally left back, Recover on RF, Press heel of LF across RF, Recover on RF (4:30)
8
Step LF to left side (squaring back to 3:00)
Repeat & Have Fun!! Happy Birthday!
On the last wall (3:00), do the first botafogo normally, then do the 2nd botafogo with a ¼ turn left to face 12:00 again.
This dance is specially choreographed for Mr AH Leong (KL) in conjunction with his 60th birthday celebrations.
Special thanks to Carmen Mah (Toronto) for bringing my attention to this lively birthday song.