Viver Brasil Dance Company

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
582671160
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3234654762
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Reported finances

Revenue
$337,100
Expenses
$407,071
Assets
$61,771
Liabilities
$4,481

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Luiz Badaro (Director): $36,995 total reported compensation
  • Linda Yudin (Executive Dir.): $35,125 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Viver Brasil honors Brazil's African legacy through contemporary dance theatre by utilizing Afro-Brazilian dance and music in performance, art education, community engagement and cultural exchange programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Viver Brasil expanded its artistic reach and deepened community impact through performances, education, and cultural engagement across Los Angeles. VB presented dynamic performances at Descanso Gardens, the Center for World Music, Downtown Disney, and Rezas e Folhas, sharing Afro-Brazilian dance, music, and cultural traditions with diverse audiences throughout the region. Through its Arts in Schools Residency Program, VB brought culturally responsive arts education directly to students at YES Academy, Vista Global, Foshay, and Loyola Village, fostering creativity, cultural awareness, and joyful movement experiences for young people. VBs Monday Night Community Dance Class remained a cornerstone of community connection, offering 45 weeks of accessible, ongoing dance classes that welcomed participants of all ages and experience levels into a vibrant space for movement, learning, and belonging. To further increase accessibility, VB launched Samba in the Streets, a 9-week free community dance class series designed to bring Afro-Brazilian dance directly into neighborhood spaces and engage new participants outside of traditional arts venues. VB also completed an 8-week corporate performance residency as part of Disneys Viva Navidad at Disney California Adventure, showcasing Afro-Brazilian artistry on a major public platform and strengthening partnerships that elevate culturally rooted performance traditions. Together, these accomplishments reflect Viver Brasil's continued commitment to artistic excellence, cultural preservation, arts education, and community-centered engagement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 73% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.7%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $339K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.