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Who is Casa Samba

   The acronym C.A.S.A. means Cosmopolitan Amigo Samba Association all about Brasilian culture.

Casa Samba was founded in 1987 by Curtis Pierre, Bill Lennon, Chuk and Carolyn Barber. On July 21, 1993, Mayor Sidney Bartholomew proclaimed Casa Samba as the first samba school in New Orleans, one the premier cities of Carnival in the world. The group is directed by Curtis Pierre, and Brasilian master drummer, Jorge "Alabe" Bezerra.
    Casa Samba's performances combine traditional music, vocals, theater, dance and drumming to capture the spirit of Carnival in Brasil, Afro- Brasilian traditions and history. We showcase our performances at major hotels, festivals, conventions and special  events and through our annual participation in several Mardi Gras parades and coronations (such as Endymion and Zulu balls) and at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival. Appropriately enough, Casa Samba first emerged in 1986 during Mardi Gras 

About Casa Samba

Vision - Casa Samba's vision is to train children and adults in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf South into aspiring practitioners of  Brasilian traditional music, dance and cultural arts. Curtis Pierre, has studied over the past 25 years, to gain the knowledge and expertise on Brasilian music and dance.
   Now with the aid of Casa Samba, he would like to give back to the community through offering classes and workshops on the Brasilian music, dance and culture. For the past 17 years he has with hands on work within his community with hundreds children. Not only as a performer but, he is roll model, mentor, big brother and as a farther figure to many of his neighborhood children. Casa Samba and Curtis has performed for over 800,000 children the metropolitan New Orleans school systems and surrounding parish schools, exposing children to Brasilian culture, music and traditions.
     Being a native of New Orleans and knowing the problems that kids face today, Curtis has adopted the same philosophy of the samba schools in Brasil in taking a social responsibility for safeguarding our children and providing them with creative and challenging opportunities and experiences other than what is found in the streets.
   It is our desire to provide a venue for getting the community, specifically children and young adults interested in music and dance and providing them with a place to participate in supervised and structured activities like Residences, after school, and during the summer months.

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