Tania Valeska, Queen of Everything

Para leer en español, presiona aquí: Tania Valeska, Reina de Todo.

Por AnaMaria Bech

Tania Valeska is a renowned Latin artist in New Orleans who got attention with her colorful Latin music and Samba dance performances. Born and raised in Nicaragua, her parents instilled a love of art and enrolled her at an early age in ballet classes and dance competitions. Tania found her passion for dance and knew it would be her professional career. She became the first non-Brazilian Latin American woman to obtain the title “Rainha de Bateria” in the 2022-2023 Rio Carnival.

She attended the University of Commercial Sciences (UCC) in Managua, where she met a Brazilian instructor who introduced her to the batucada and discovered an excellent affinity for Samba because it resembled Palo de Mayo, the typical national dance of Nicaragua she had already mastered.

When she was 18, she moved to Chicago. “I met all of Brazil,” said Tania, referring to the large Brazilian community of that town. She danced with various musical groups and continued perfecting her Samba moves, capoeira, and Brazilian rhythms. Tania participated in shows and competitions with the Chicago Samba Brazilian Band in different cities. She obtained the title of Samba Princess and Samba Queen of Chicago, a great recognition among many other accolades.

Her first visit to the Rio Carnival came in 2015, where she danced as a Passista with two samba schools: Curicica and Unidos do Viradouro. Tania has consecutively participated in the carnival as Passista with several samba schools, including Alegria da Zona Sul, Estacio de Sa, and Imperio Serrano. In 2021, she became the first foreign “Rainha de Bateria” at the Encima da Hora School, an honor highly respected by local Samba queens and the Samba school community.

Tania Valeska settled in New Orleans in 2019. With her knowledge of various rhythms and enviable physical condition, the Nicaraguan Samba Queen has worked as a dance instructor for children and adults, had her own dance studio, and formed Samba Carioca in New Orleans. The amateur Samba group performs at various events and festivals in the region. She is also a physical trainer in different gyms and created samba tutorials for weight loss to define the body and work muscles with a unique and fun routine.

Her current great passion is fashion design and making suits. Her role as a designer is inspired by her experience in dancing and the need to move with comfort and confidence while still looking elegant and sexy. “You have to show some skin. All women should feel sexy,” says Tania. Sharing with designers through her presentations throughout the country and living surrounded by colors, fabrics, rhinestones, and sequins led her to learn many wardrobe tricks. The need for many outfit options for her competitions also prompted her to make her designs. “When I started to see that I could glue a rhinestone or sew to fix a dress, I knew I could also glue a rhinestone for a cocktail, gala, or prom dress,” says Tania. 

That’s how she decided to take sewing classes, continued sketching her dresses, and launched her fashion lines for carnival, gala costumes, swimsuits and exercise clothing. Her brand, Royal T Couture, has already hit the catwalks at New York Fashion Week, and several of her designs received praise during the famous fashion event. On Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios’s visit to New Orleans, Tania spent some time with her. She took her measurements to make an exclusive design for the new Miss Universe. 

As with everything she sets out to do, Tania Valeska will turn her clothing line into a success. If you want to feel like a queen during the Mardi Gras carnival balls, at your prom or your next gala event, you can contact Tania to design a dress in your style. Visit royaltcoutureboutique.com and let Tania Valeska turn you into a Royal T, Queen of Everything, like her.