I started singing and dancing at the age of 8. In Brazil, I performed with many Brazilian artists but definitely the highlights of my career were performing with the “Trio Electrico” during the Carnival in Salvador-Bahia and taking part at the famous Rio de Janeiro Carnival as “Passista de Samba” (samba dancer) with the “Imperio Serrano” School of samba. I moved to London in 2000.
In 2001 I embarked on a musical adventure with Leo Mantini because we believed that our different artistic experiences could produce something with the potential of breaking the Latin/Brazilian entertainment market. We wanted to create a fresh and innovative performance and blow some new life into the traditional entertainment scene. It was quite difficult to making people understand the difference between our show and other form of Latin entertainment available on the market.
We introduced a Latin Brazilian Cabaret style show production featuring performers who would be singing as well as dancing with the support of an established live band. It took a while before audiences started to value our performances. Appreciation came after attending our shows. Having such a complete performer like Vanessa, to be able to sing and dance at the same time, was definitely a breakthrough.
We are proud to have coined the term “Latin Brazilian Show” and have developed it into a unique form of spectacle well appreciated by audiences all over the UK and abroad. We started out with only few people. Today Tropicalia can provide up to 30 people between musicians and dancers. We also have a small office with a dedicated customer service. Producing your own show gives you the power to choose your songs, make your musical arrangements, create choreography and design costumes. You can drive the creativity and talent of the people working with you onto your project creating positive energy.
We love sharing ideas among professional performers in general. The first two years settling in another country can be pretty difficult and tough. You are missing your family and friends, have to learn a new language, understand a new culture and most of the time have to accept poor jobs at ridiculous wages to pay your bills and studies. If you have the strength to get through this and slowly make yourself succeed in what you are good at, then the UK offer you many opportunities to develop your skills and eventually start your own business.
We went through hard times but....Our achievements made the sacrifices worth it. Tropicalia is a successful business which ended up in being awarded with 3 LUKAS Awards over the past 2 years. We are doing what we love most, proudly keeping the Latin culture alive and kicking!
The love and passion for our profession and, of course, the success and positive feedback received over the last 10 years in the Latin entertainment. We were overwhelmed by the number of votes received for the LUKAS Award. Only this year our 3 nominees received over 11,500 votes! Happiness is to see people having fun and sharing smiles at our shows.
Unhappiness is still to see people not respecting our artistic profession unless you are an International well-knows pop star. I am pretty sure I could say this on behalf of many artists not only in the UK but all over the world. I would not even call it unhappiness but rather sad moments. We are always looking to create unique performances to surprise and entertain audiences all over the UK and abroad, bringing and spreading the Latino culture as much as we can and possibly at its best.
