The move from Brasil

If I should describe myself, I would say that I'm happy, optimistic and strong minded person who loves to work hard. But also, I'm a big dreamer and have a lot of goals in life. The first time I've heard of Croatia was in high school history lessons when the teacher talked about the war in the Balkans in the 90s.

Fast forward some years ahead, I decided to move across the ocean to Croatia. Why you ask? Well, I have a lot of Brazilian friends who live in Croatia and teach samba over here, and they've invited me to be a part of their dance group. I decided to give it a try, moved to Zagreb and haven't looked back ever since!

Image credit: Anny Alves

Connection through football

Before I came to live in Zagreb, I didn't know almost anything about Croatia. But I think a lot has changed since then! A lot of Brazilians became aware of Croatia in 2014 when Croatia opened the World Cup in Brasil with a game against Brasil itself! Also after this year's World Cup in Russia, even more Brazilians heard of Croatia, and everyone cheered for you in the finals against France! So, you can say there is quite a lot of love between Brasil and Croatia now.

Croatia is a beautiful country, and like many, I love your beautiful coast and sea the most. I also enjoy your food and gastronomy in general. What I don't like is the long and cold winters, especially in Zagreb. As a Brasilian, I'm still not used to such cold weather.

Image credit: Anny Alves

Passion for Samba

Of course, I miss Brasil, but I still visit it twice a year, so it is not that hard. Samba is my passion, and I enjoy sharing it with the Croatian people who are interested in learning it. I am very happy here for now. My samba school is doing great, and I see that my girls are improving their dance moves each day and interest in samba in Croatia is also growing more and more. I love to say that samba is not only a great form of exercise, but it also releases the hormone of happiness – serotonin and adrenalin which both result in getting that positive outlook on life and raising your happiness levels. My biggest dream for the future is to open an even bigger dance studio in Zagreb, where I could teach different Brazilian dances and not only samba.

Image credit: Anny Alves

As for the other plans in the future, I'll stay in Croatia for as long as I feel happy and content here. Also thanks to the success of my samba school in Zagreb, I've got the honor of participating in a world famous carnival in Rio de Janiero. That was a huge step in my career and next year I'll participate in it again! This time not only as a dancer but also as a muse of a samba dance school which is even a greater honor! These achievements make me incredibly happy and I'm extremely proud of all the work I've done here in Zagreb.

If you're interested in learning the samba yourself, you can find all the information about Anny's school here, or you can send your questions to the e-mail: info@samba.hr. You can save your spot by enrolling in school, from October 2nd, 2018.

Header image credit: Anny Alves

Author: Darija Ilić