Neuma Goncalves, Brazil's "First Lady of Samba," has died at age 78 after helping turn the Rio de Janeiro slum Mangueira into one of the best-loved samba schools at the world-famous Carnival parade.

Batala is a form of Brazilian samba drum music which originated in North Eastern Brazil, with the first batala band formed by Giba Gonçalves in Paris in 1997. Bands had travelled to Bristol from as ...