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Beginners dance and drumming course 2019

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Come and join us!

Beginners dance and drumming course 2019Come and learn to drum and dance alongside members of Wellington Batucada. Sign up for the Beginners courses now for 2019.

Dates have been confirmed for 3 x two-hour workshops to be run every second Sunday for both Dancers and Drummers on the following dates: 11th & 25th August and 8 September.

Dancers will be in the Pipe Band Hall and the Drummers up at the Cook Island Society Hall. On the alternate Sunday beginners will be invited to visit band practice and watch.

Cost of workshops to beginners will be $60 for all 3 x two-hour sessions, to be paid up front. There’s also a special price of $25 for current Batucada members.

Sign up here!

Festas de São João 2019

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Celebrating a Brazilian festival at El Barrio Latino Bar

Wellington Batucada drummers at Festas de São João 2019 mini-gig. Photo by El Barrio Latino Bar.

Lucy (former Batucada tamborim player) owns El Barrio Latino Bar and was keen for us to do a small gig in June to celebrate the Brazilian festival Festas Juninas – also known as Festas de São João.

Keeping the volume down is a challenge in a small space, so we decided a mini-gig would work best, with 10-12 drummers instead of our usual 20-30. Our dancers came along and danced with the crowd, as there wasn’t space to do a dance performance. So – a bit of an experiment all round.
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Wellington Batucada at CubaDupa 2019

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Live on-stage at the Opera House

Due to the recent tragic events in Christchurch, CubaDupa was moved offstreet this year.

Our Sunday Swan Stage show went ahead as planned – but on-stage at the Opera House (ooohhh!!).

Wellington Batucada drummers and dancers perform live at the Opera House, Wellington, New Zealand – as part of CubaDupa 2019. This year we celebrated the life and music of Mestre Moa do Katande, who was an inspiration to us all.

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CubaDupa weekend 2019 – samba jam party

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Jamming with our samba-loving mates from around NZ

Due to the recent tragic events in Christchurch, CubaDupa was moved offstreet this year.

This meant, sadly, that all of the street performances planned by Wellington Batucada and our samba whanau from around the country could not go ahead. So instead, we decided to host a massive Samba Jam on the Saturday at our rehearsal space – the Cook Island Hall in Newtown.

Wellington Batucada host a samba jam party at the Cook Island Hall for all our samba-loving friends and bands from around the country. Video by Tom S Etuata.

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Island Bay Festival 2019

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Fun in the sun by the sea

Wellington Batucada drummers and dancers perform in Wellington’s Island Bay Festival Parade. Video by Tom S Etuata.

Thank you from Island Bay Festival:

Hi everyone! Slightly belated, but still heartfelt thank you to you all and your groups for yet another fantastic parade!

Couldn’t do it without you all, and your enthusiastic participation, marching, singing, dancing, trike-riding, acrobat-ing, instrument playing and marshalling really makes it an awesome event. Please pass on my thanks to everyone from your groups who was involved. Til next year… Mel

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