From Salvador to Santa Barbara

Feathered and bedazzled dancers strut down Santa Barbara Street. Capoeira players kick and cartwheel. The drumming band behind them sustains a lively samba-reggae rhythm. These performers, led by Brazilian Cultural Arts Center of Santa Barbara (BCACSB) director Mariano Silva, are all smiles and bring the life-sustaining energy known in Brazil as “axé” to Solstice. 

This June marks Silva’s 25th participation in the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade, and 25 years of bringing the Afro-Brazilian arts from his hometown Salvador — such as samba, capoeira and Batucada drumming — to the area. He participated in another Solstice section his first year, then decided to bring Salvador-style Carnival to Santa Barbara’s summer celebration, and opened up these annual performances for people from all backgrounds to join. 

“I love that Americans are taking the time out of their day to experience what Brazil has to offer,” says Silva. “Brazilian people are notorious for being open, sharing, and giving. ‘Let’s give everyone a chance’ is the Afro-Brazilian model.” 

Silva recalls that his first time leading a Solstice section in 2002 included six dancers, a small float, and a powerful speaker to carry his voice and Bahian rhythms to the crowd. In 2024, the number grew to 76 dancers, including those who rehearsed a samba routine and others doing impromptu street dance choreographies. Silva estimates 150 people will stride alongside him this year. 

Longtime BCACSB student and Solstice participant Annalisa Zaccardelli has enjoyed seeing the way fellow dancers transform over the years. Though every year sees returning participants, many dancers are novices that develop confidence in their high-heeled step in the 12 weeks they learn the choreography. “We want to encourage — as Mariano says in class — ‘normal people to do the extraordinary.’ It’s wonderful to see people do that every year,” says Zacardelli. 

Tech firm media director Filippa de Vega, 33, went from walking with her family in BCACSB’s Solstice group three years ago, when her then-5-year-old daughter started playing capoeira, to now rehearsing for her second samba performance in the parade. She remembers feeling nervous to dance in a flamboyant costume without samba experience, but changed her tune after the parade. “It was a first for me because I’m not a performer, but it was really fun,” she says. “I encourage everyone to try it now because it’s not as intimidating as it may seem.” 

The Solstice performance is one expression of the commitment Mariano Silva has made to share his culture with the community.

Widely known as Mestre Mariano, an educator and master of cultural arts, he first traveled to the United States as a dancer with Balé Folclórico da Bahia, performing on stages such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Soon after settling on the Central Coast in 2001, Silva began teaching capoeira and Afro-Brazilian dance to students at UCSB and local elementary schools. 

Now Silva is the executive director of the nonprofit BCACSB and owner of its studio on Hollister Avenue in Goleta. They offer classes year-round, host community barbecues at their studio and present events, such as their dance company Bahia Magia’s show Roots of Brazil and Brazilian Day at De la Guerra Plaza. 

Silva has worked to make Brazil visible in other ways, too. In 2022, with efforts from BCACSB’s board, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution recognizing November as Brazilian American Heritage Month. In most of the country, this is observed in September in accordance with Brazil’s independence day. But in Santa Barbara, it corresponds with Dia da Consciência Negra (Black Consciousness Day) to recognize Black liberation and the African origins of many Brazilian cultural practices. 

Capoeira — the martial art played at the Solstice parade — for instance, started with enslaved people combining music and dance to conceal their self-defense training, in preparation for escape from brutal sugar plantations. Because his hometown of Salvador was the birthplace of the arts he teaches, Silva makes it a point to share these histories alongside the music, martial arts, and dance at his studio. 

Car mechanic and São Paulo native Caio Blanco, 51, appreciates Silva’s dedication to cultural authenticity. Blanco has known Mariano Silva since settling here more than two decades ago, but only began training capoeira with his 13-year-old son in the last year. Blanco says the energy at the studio reminds him of home. “Having him share all of this with [his students] is amazing. I feel a lot closer to Brazil when I’m here.” 

Resembling the capoeira and dance classes he received as a teenager in Salvador, Silva aims to teach traditions he received that go “beyond movement.” 

“Old people tell stories and teach the young. I’m teaching culture, leadership and confidence,” says Silva. “Physicality dies, but tradition lives on, generation to generation.”

For more information, see bcacsb.com.