Brazil is perhaps best known and celebrated across the world for the music and dance that has emerged across its eclectic history - Much of Brazilian music has a strong African influence, although early European religious song and parties, as well as indigenous traditions also had their role to play. Indeed, cultural fusion and interaction characterizes some of the greatest musical genres that developed in Brazil.

Amongst some of the popular and beloved rhythms and forms are the Choro, a charming string genre which translates as 'Weeping', and originates from 19th Century Rio de Janeiro. Samba blossomed in Rio in the early 20th Century, influenced by the great migration of African slaves from the Northeast of the country. Bossa Nova emerged in the 1950s, a deeply innovative genre which fused Western influences with traditional Brazilian rhythms.