it is slow, smooth and romantic and residents of rio de janeiro have made it theirs - hence, the bolero in the city is completely different to the international ballroom bolero, but it is still very much a ballroom dance.

it is important to distinguish samba de gafieira from ballroom samba, usually danced in other latin american countries and north america mainly - so while it is true the dance originated in rio de janeiro, the genre's influences are foreign, including tango.