Thalita Santos was born and raised in Niterói. Her first contact with percussion was 10 years in the school band playing snare drum. She always loved carnival and later joined Unidos do Viradouro. She played with Viradouro for 15 years where she learned to play all the drums of the bateria. Viradouro made her love for carnival grow and her passion for her profession.
She has a degree in Carnival Management in Brazil, Party Management and Carnival Events and today she works in the administration of the school. One of the most important moments of Thalita’s professional life was when she became the first female drummer in a samba school of the grupo especial in Rio de Janeiro at Carnival 2015. In 2016 she was a director at Viradouro along with her brother Thiago’z Pereira. Under the direction of Mestre Paulinho Botelho.
She has paraded in the baterias of Porto da Pedra, Grande Rio, São Clemente, Vila Isabel (director) and Salgueiro, where I also became a Tamborim teacher at Mestre Marcão's percussion workshop. I also recorded CDs and DVDs with some of these schools.
After deciding that she wanted to have music as a profession, she went to Villa Lobos Music School where she learned theory and music pedagogy. She credits this knowledge combined with the knowledge gained in the samba schools and in the groups in Rio, at making her become a better teacher. Thalita loves passing on everything she has learned.
She feels fortunate to be part of an innovative project in Rio de Janeiro called Batuque Digital. Kleber Komka episode 52. He brings together drummers, directors and Bateria Mestres from different samba schools to play and teach. Today Thalita is one of the percussion teachers of this project that grows more and more every day.
Thalita formed the first all female bateria Bloco in Niterói called Saias na Folia. She is very proud of this project because many percussion artist have emerged from this group and some have paraded with Samba Schools. She says more than a bloco it’s a large family.
Various other projects have included: teaching percussion to Engineering and law communication school, participating on 2 Bloco da Preta shows, Patuá Bloco Cover band, and her band Un Amô that aims to play music of different genres that have the theme of love, composed of 4 girls playing Guitar / Cavaco, Tamborim, Caixa and surdo.
A while back Thalita made a youtube video showing different ways to play chatter on tamborim. It was super successful and she got messages from people all over the world saying how great it was and how much it helped them.
Chris Quade Couto (Episode 28) brought her to Germany and they did a mini tour of Germany, Holland and England. Many of the people she met on this tour knew her from her youtube video. And she saw up close how passionate everyone was for Brazilian percussion
Thalita also has a youtube channel just teaching Tamborim, as well as other samba percussion instruments. She is also involved with Site Apoteose with Waguinho do Repinique where they post videos of baterias and interview mestres from various samba schools around Rio.
Support Troféu Bateria with a PayPal donation to brian@lionsofbatucada.com. Everyone who gives $25+ is automatically entered to win a tamborim from Go Samba!
Hosted by Courtney Danley and Dianna Ramirez, The Brazilian Beat is a podcast that moves to the rhythm of its people. This isn't a broad survey of genres, but a focused, intimate journey into the heart of the Brazilian percussion community. Each conversation is a doorway into a different world-from the master craftsmen who build the instruments to the legendary players who give them a voice, and the community organizers who keep the traditions alive in cities across the globe. You'll hear the stories behind the surdo, the tamborim, and the agogô, learning how these instruments are more than just tools for music; they are vessels of history and identity. Courtney and Dianna guide these discussions with genuine curiosity and deep respect, allowing every guest to share not just their technical expertise, but their personal connection to the beat. Listening to this podcast feels like pulling up a chair in a roda de samba, surrounded by the warmth and complexity of a living culture. It's about the hands that shape the wood and skin, the collective energy of a bateria, and the lifelong dedication required to master a single rhythm. For anyone fascinated by the power of percussion, the social fabric of music-making, or the rich cultural tapestry of Brazil, The Brazilian Beat offers an authentic, ground-level perspective you won't find anywhere else.
Author: Courtney Danley & Dianna Ramirez
Language: en-us
Episodes: 100
Epi 114 Jonathan Hernandez Padua Dianna Ramirez & Courtney Danley Download Promotes multicultural dissemination between both countries, Mexico and Brazil, through musical dissemination. Expressing our art through samba s…
Epi 113 Diego Oliveira Courtney Danley & Dianna Ramirez Download Diego de Oliveira was Born and raised in Nilópolis. Since he was very young, Diego has lived in the world of samba. He has been a Mestre sala, was part of…
Robert Lopez Epi 112 Robert Lopez Dianna Ramirez & Courtney Danley Download Bio:Robert Lopez is a percussionist and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His background in various types of music such as folkloric…
Epi 111 Mestre Guilherme & Mestre Gustavo of Acadêmicos do Salgueiro Courtney Danley & Dianna Ramirez Download Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bjuRxPEnvOM We are running a fundraiser for a software purchase, Zoom, Ado…
Sabrina Ginga of Salgueiro Samba School and Mestre Curtis of Casa Samba Sabrina Ginga & Mestre Curtis partnership between Acadêmicos do Salgueiro & Casa Samba Dianna Ramirez & Courtney Danley Download We are running a fu…
Photo by Nelson Malfacini www.instagram.com/nelsonmalfacini/ Epi 109 Gustavo Perez aka Nômade Courtney Danley & Dianna Ramirez Download Gustavo Perez, nicknamed Nômade, is originally from São Paulo, where he originally l…
Epi 208 Silvia Manrique Dianna Ramirez & Courtney Danley Download Bio:About Silvia Manrique Silvia Manrique is a Chicago-based Brazilian and Latin Jazz vocalist. She has performed at respected venues and festivals like t…
Epi 107 Mestra Laísa Lima Dianna Ramirez & Courtney Danley Download Bio:Laísa Lima was born into samba, as the daughter of samba legend, Laíla, and samba performer Elaine, and granddaughter of ala director, Jurema. She g…
Renan Gohan tells us about growing up playing samba and being a director at Imperatriz today. We talk about what Imperatriz's win means for the community, what makes Mestre Lolo such a good mestre, his feelings the day o…
