Who You Know ... Julia And Jean-luc Stora

Newcastle Herald

Saturday February 23, 2008

Lisa Barritt-Eyles

Julia and Jean-Luc Stora have lived in several countries. They have travelled the world and can claim citizenship in three nations. But their hearts belong to Brazil.

Currently living in Merewether, they share a love of Brazilian samba dancing and drumming that is as infectious as the music they play.

"The music makes you want to move, it gets under people's skin," Julia says.

Brazilian dancing and drumming have mixed roots, originating in the slums, with influences from Portuguese colonists, Amazon Indians and African slaves. Jean-Luc has found during years of teaching and performing that the fusion of cultures means samba, "touches everyone, there is something for everyone, the roots go deep."

French-born Jean-Luc was introduced to Brazilian culture when he moved to San Francisco, where there is a large Brazilian community, and began learning Portuguese. A friend introduced him to Brazilian dance and his response was, " I want to learn to do that!"

He did, and in 1995 he was crowned king of San Francisco's Brazilian carnivale, which was judged on the participant's dancing, costume and spirit while performing.

Two days later, he met Julia when she rented a room in the apartment Jean-Luc where lived.

Julia had a similar reaction to Jean-Luc when she saw Brazilian dancing.

"I'd never seen anything like it and I wanted to know how to do it," she says.

Samba is high energy and, although people do it for different reasons, it provides a great physical workout.

"It's closest to West African dancing, using bent knees and group movement to song. It's about learning to get rid of inhibitions, with a lot of booty shaking and gyrating," she says.

Julia's US visa expired and after two years of travelling she decided to return to Australia in late 1995 to see family and finish university. Jean-Luc followed, and it was while living in Sydney, unable to find any samba classes, that he started teaching Brazilian dancing at the Bondi Pavilion.

Missing San Francisco and feeling that they had left prematurely, the couple returned in 1997. Jean-Luc taught samba classes and became heavily involved in Brazilian drumming. Julia worked in professional development and training in IT and internet start-up companies.

After four years of soaking up the local Brazilian and Latin cultures, the Storas decided to return to Australia, via France (living in Cannes for a year).

Julia worked hard to learn French, and while they speak English at home, on a trip to France last year, surrounded by French speakers, her hard-earned language skills returned. Jean-Luc speaks French to their young son, Django (named after legendary gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt), who understands, but chooses to answer in English.

Living in France, the Storas joined a percussion group called Les Diables Bleus (The Blue Devils), which performed at festivals and in villages, where they were plied with beautiful 10-course meals afterwards.

They returned to Australia in 2001, and settling in Sydney, set about achieving Jean-Luc's dream of establishing a dance school similar to those in San Francisco, which taught many different styles of dance.

Dance Central opened in Sydney in 2002 and holds 50 dance classes a week in a variety of styles including ethnic, Bollywood, breakdance, Tahitian, funk, burlesque and hip hop. The Storas still run Dance Central with a loyal team. When necessary, Jean-Luc commutes to Sydney.

JeanLuc also established a Brazilian dance and percussion group, Samba Frog, which performs at venues and parties.

Julia plays the bass drum, surdo, with Samba Frog and wears knee and shin pads when she's in a parade because the drum bangs against her legs, "If you're drumming, you're dancing," she said. The drums can be heavy, but "the music takes over and carries you so you don't really notice it."

The appeal of Brazilian samba for Jean-Luc and Julia lies in its social focus, "We're interested in the community spirit side more than the show side, it's more fun connecting with other people [than worrying about pure performance]," Julia says.

The Storas moved to Newcastle a year ago for a sea change and to be closer to Julia's parents, who have retired here. JeanLuc started teaching samba classes here six months ago.

Jean-Luc and Julia will be bringing Brazilian dancing and percussion to Newcastle as part of the Live Sites Latino Nights on Friday, February 29, in Wheeler Place.

Julia, who is expecting their second child in a few weeks, won't be dancing, but is looking forward to joining in on the drums.

Lisa Barritt-Eyles

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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