Raffaella Falchi has been dancing and studying samba for 9 years. She has performed professionally with numerous Brazilian dance companies in the Bay Area, as well as internationally in Europe and Brazil. For the past 3 years, Raffaella has been training in different styles of samba in Brazil. She is a co-founder of the Sambamora dance company and was awarded Best Samba Class of the Bay in 2004.

Monique was named San Francisco’s 2006 Queen of Carnaval in her first year competing for the title.

She has been studying and performing Brazilian dance since 1993. Monique has danced with many local Bay Area groups. She has performed as a freelancer for the past 6 years. She is on the Board of Directors for the Black Choreographers Festival.