Our Creative Director/Founder - Lisa. Her extensive dance background includes over 16 years of training in authentic Brazilian samba, Afro-Brazilian, Axe, ballet, modern, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Haitan, and contemporary dance. She has studied with world renowned Master teachers such as Rosengela Silvestre, Egili Oliveira, Alex Coutinho, Baba Richard Gonzalez and Ronald K. Brown. As a teen she spent her Summers studying with the New York City Ballet and received a full dance scholarship to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Lisa has performed as a dancer with Jennifer Hudson for “Black Girls Rock” on BET, Choreographed and performed on “The Nightly Show with Larry Whilmore” on Comedy Central, and appeared in the pilot of sketch comedy “Black & White” on A&E Network. Lisa choreographed, and performed in the pilot “Failing with Grace”. Lisa has performed abroad in Tokyo, Japan, Guam, and graced an international GAP ad campaign as a dancer. Lisa created and collaborated on a commercial spot for Hershey’s Kisses featuring the Pure Samba Samba Sisters (as seen on our home page). She has performed in a Target commercial featuring Beyonce, and has choreographed and performed for New York Fashion Week Mens and New York Fashion Week. Lisa is also a successful working actress and proud member of SAG-AFTRA. You might have seen her in lead roles on “New Amsterdam” and “Manifest” on NBC/Netflix, and “Elementary” on CBS. (Get ready to book, Lisa performs on the majority of Pure Samba shows. You can say… I knew her when ;-). A Wall Street alumni; Lisa holds a B.S. in Finance from Northeastern University. Pure Samba was created as a dedication and tribute to her beloved parents.