In this photo taken Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, "passista," or samba dancer Diana Prado performs in a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A call center supervisor by day the ...

RIO DE JANEIRO - It's a life of stark contrast: By day, Diana Prado is a supervisor at an insurance company's drably lit call centre cramped with blue cubicles. But when night falls, she dazzles as a ...

In a faded rehearsal hall in the gritty concrete sprawl of northern Rio de Janeiro, samba dancers and drummers fine-tune their rhythms for a grassroots carnival parade few tourists have heard of.

Percussion-based music echoed in the streets as dancers and musicians from the Evanston Escola de Samba invited people to clap along with the beat. Dancers wearing bright pink, blue and orange ...

Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas always has one person in his corner: mom Shirley Ballas. After Mark, 39, and celebrity partner Whitney Leavitt took some heat from fans for their samba ...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Carnival always breathes life into the economy of Vila Vintem, a favela on Rio de Janeiro's west side, but this year the pulse is even stronger with its Unidos de Padre Miguel samba ...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Carnival always breathes life into the economy of Vila Vintem, a favela on Rio de Janeiro’s west side, but this year the pulse is even stronger with its Unidos de Padre Miguel ...