The most important Brazilian celebration of the year – Carnival – takes over one of New York City’s most acclaimed nightclubs. And at the helm, Dj Mario Calegari provides the soundtrack with flavorful Brazilian beats and elegant Portuguese melodies. Ralph Berr opens the night.

[ February 19, 2010 10:00 PM to February 20, 2010 4:00 AM. ] Come see a real Carnival Block Party (i.e. Bloco de Carnaval) at The Sullivan Room.

[ February 9, 2010; 9:00 PM; ] Brazil Foundation, a US-based non-profit grant making organization dedicated to supporting
social projects in Brazil, presents The Winter Blues Carnaval Party at Norwood Club on February 09, 2009 from 9 PM to 2 AM.

[ February 11, 2010; 6:00 PM; ] Founded by Alexandre Bueno de Moraes and Andrew S. Klug, the 1500 Gallery “interprets the notion of Brazilian photography to comprise photography made by Brazilian photographers, as well as images bearing a conceptual or thematic relationship to Brazil.”

Located in New York City’s West Chelsea gallery district at 511 West 25th Street, #607, 1500 Gallery is the first art gallery in the world with an explicit focus in Brazilian artists and theme, and it represents the work of 17 artists, both emerging and established. Six of 1500’s photographers are represented in the Sao Paulo Museum of Art’s Collection of Photography.

[ February 27, 2010; 10:00 PM; 11:30 PM; March 6, 2010; 10:00 PM; 11:30 PM; ] Acclaimed Brazilian singer Marianni is scheduled for a series of three Saturday night performances (10pm, 11:30pm and 1am) at New York’s Zinc Bar, through February 6 to March 6. With a repertoire ranging from Brazilian Bossa nova, Samba and MPB (Brazilian popular music), to American favorites and some of her own compositions, Marianni returns to the New Your house that helped build her East Coast fan base. Marianni has performed live at Zinc several times since her debut album Swimming to the Moon came out in 2005.

[ February 4, 2010; 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. ] This coming Thursday, February 4, at 7pm, Mr. Fernandes will speak about his current research on Brazil unprecedented fight against homophobia, the “Brazil Without Homophobia campaign.

[ February 25, 2010; 7:00 PM; ] The feature film Simonal, No One Knows How Tough It Was, screens on February 25, at the 92YTribeca, as part of Cinema Tropical’s Janeiro in New York film series. This year, the series of Brazilian films programmed by Mary Jane Marcasiano focuses on Brazil’s musical legacy.

[ February 6, 2010; 7:00 PM; ] On Saturday, February 6, at DROM, Pianist Luiz Simas will play a great repertoire of sambas specially chosen for dancing samba-no-pé (basic samba step) and passo marcado (simple choreography), the staple dance styles of Rio’s Carnival. And with a large dancing space right in front of the stage, master dance teacher Danielle Lima will give a lesson on how to dance samba – minutes before Mr. Simas and his band enter the stage.