Everyone knows the Samba is the National Dance of Brazil – but that changed in 2012 when André Rieu played his first ever concert series in Brazil’s hustling and bustling commercial capital of Sao Paulo. The time-honoured “Ginásio do Ibirapuera” which was established in 1957 and hosted the Women’s Basketball World Championships amongst other world class events got turned into a Viennese outpost for 30 nights straight for which must be the most successful premiere tour in Brazil by an artist ever. Close to 200,000 spectators witnessed the King of Waltz’s inaugural shows turning the place into a celebration of joie de vivre and – of course – the Waltz. Says André Rieu, “Yes, it’s a record. A sold-out concert thirty times in one city. We are really proud of that. So many memories of people waltzing, the laughter, the tears of the Brazilians. We will never forget all that.” And it’s one of Andre many talents that he always finds the right mix between classics and hidden gems of his genre