Nine Dragons School of Samba follows in the traditions of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, celebrating Brazilian carnival culture and providing opportunities to learn samba percussion and dance, or to help with costumes and floats or other community activities. Our long-term aim is to build a community that can present Rio-style carnival parades with all the key traditional elements of a school of samba, centred around carnival theme songs (sambas de enredo) and including a large percussion group (bateria), flag-bearer and room-master (porta-bandeira e mestre-sala), front commission (comissão de frente), Bahian samba aunts (baianas) and various other wings (alas). We also collaborate in other projects to celebrate and spread the joy of Brazilian culture, including music, dance and visual arts.