It’s the middle of winter. It’s very cold. We’re playing at night. I’m wearing two vests, two t-shirts, two pairs of leggings and a long skirt underneath my summer Batucada uniform.
But what total fun! A brilliant experience, and well worth braving the cold for (and we were super-hot!).
After an early, rainy start and some adventures negotiating traffic and on-site construction works the crew all assembled on-time and without losing anyone. Phew!
After a try-out for stage positions we waited in the green room and then started the show with a short, noisy, surprise parade into Shed 6 to round everyone up from the breakfast reception and then led them pied piper style across into the main TSB Arena stadium.
Once in there we paraded through the stadium seating and got onto the big stage (with a MASSIVE video screen behind us). Then we gave the crowd a blast of Samba Reggae and Merengue.
What a beautiful day to celebrate International Dance Day.
Te Papa positively sparkled on the sunny waterfront, the audience was huge, filling the space at Te Marae completely, and we had a wonderful time showcasing the dances of samba.
Oh how we love Newtown Fair.
You get there super-early (wearing your band uniform, most likely), spend an hour or a few meandering through the streets looking at all the stalls and buying stuff, eating yummy food from everywhere in the world, and answering many questions from people about when the band will be playing. Everyone looks forward to the Batucada parade, it seems.
Relay for Life is such a great event. We are always honoured to be invited to take part, and this year was no exception.
What a weekend! Sunday in particular was a very big day for us…
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This is our second time performing at Round the Bays, and once again it was a very early (7.45am!) start for this great community event. We resurrected our CubaDupa 2018 costumes (shhh don’t tell anyone, but this is my favourite ever Batucada outfit!) which meant we were colourful and eye-catching for the runners as they thundered past.
What an epic night!
First a street performance at the corner of Eva and Dixon Streets, then a gig in the Eva Beva Bar, and finally upstairs to El Barrio.
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The parade (all the way along The Parade to the park on the waterfront) seemed to stretch on forever, and for some reason the parade organisers (or perhaps the participants in front of us) decided that it should be run at an absolute cracking pace this year.
We were unexpectedly invited to be the “surprise” entertainment at the Summerset Group Christmas Party in Shed 5 on Wellington’s waterfront. A small and experienced group of drummers and dancers was selected, and off we went.