Batucada laydeez kicking ass again!

Last year, for the first time, we were invited to play at the MIA Latin Festival. As it’s organised by a women’s group, we thought it might be nice to send an all-female version of the band in recognition of this. Last year we didn’t have a female #1 surdo player, so Nigel became Nigella for the day and helped us out.

This year, Anny switched codes for the day and became our official #1 surdo, with Lisa holding the fort on the #2. It was Marion’s first-ever gig, having been called on by Kate about 40 minutes before we were due to go on, so that our only other repinique player would have some company. Carin did the honours as director, and she did a brilliant job – both in directing us, and in getting the crowd going as well. Our dance director Hillary was Principal Dancer, and she was just wonderful. Continue reading

Around the track at Frank Kitt’s Park with cancer survivors and caregivers

Relay for Life is an amazing event, with an incredibly loving, giving, and celebratory atmosphere. We were really honoured to have been asked to take part, and to lead the cancer survivors and their caregivers around the track for the first lap of the 24-hour relay.

From the Relay for Life website:

Relay For Life is an inspiring community event that gives everyone a chance to celebrate cancer survivors and caregivers; remember loved ones lost to cancer; and fight back by raising awareness and funds to support the work of the Cancer Society. Relay For Life is for people of all ages and fitness levels. Anyone can take part!

Team members walk and jog through the night, symbolising the fact that cancer never sleeps. However, people taking part may come and go as they like.

Continue reading

Batucada on the beach

Our Brazilian friends had set up a Footvolley Championship on the beach at Oriental Bay, and asked us if we’d come and play to open the competition. We were delighted to do so.

We gathered at the beachside on Oriental Parade and watched the footvolley teams warming up and going through their paces. It’s such a skilled sport, requiring some serious foot-eye co-ordination, very fast and athletic. It’s fascinating to watch.

Then it was our turn to provide some early afternoon entertainment before the tournament matches began. It’s surprisingly hard to do our choreographed stepping on sand, but in such a beautiful setting, and on such a gorgeous day, with a lineup of footvolley players very keen and eager to be our dancers for the afternoon, it was a pleasure: Continue reading

One of the best gigs of the year – for sure!

The Newtown Fair is always awesome to be a part of. It’s vibrant, noisy, multicultural, jam-packed, and has the maddest, most celebratory atmosphere you can imagine.

This year, for some reason, that jam-packed madness was multiplied 10-fold, and we had one of the best parades I think we’ve EVER done.

We were planning to parade down the full length of the Fair in one direction, and then turn around and parade all the way back again in the other direction. Based on previous experience, we estimated it would take us between 30 minutes and an hour.

Boy, were we wrong this year.

It took us an hour and a half to get most of the way through the Fair in one direction – and we didn’t even attempt to turn round and go back the other way, there were just too many people!

It was quite, quite, mad. At times we’d be standing still, playing, rather than parading and playing, because the sheer number of people dancing in front of us (into the hundreds) meant we couldn’t go anywhere!

Completely brilliant. At the end we said a noisy (and rhythmic) farewell to Ang, who’s heading off back home to Ireland. We’ll miss you!

What a wonderful day.

Newtown Festival, Wellington 2013 – video by Benjamin Humphrey

Same stuff, different day…

So here we are again – sunburnt and footsore from yesterday, and a little bit tired and worn out from carrying those big drums all that way…

But you can’t keep a good drummer down, so they say – and it’s very true for all of us. We love drumming and samba and being part of the Wellington Sevens far too much to let a blister or two stop us – so let’s gooooooooo!!! Continue reading

Superheroes ahoy!

Oh how we love the Wellington Rugby Sevens!

For two full days every February, utter madness and an intense need to dress up in ever more radical costumes overtake the good people of Wellington, and we come together to create the most colourful and flamboyant Sevens tournament anywhere in the world. We rock!

Wellington Batucada has had a role to play in the Sevens every year since 2003, and 2013 was no exception. This year for the first time we decided to dress up in our own Sevens-inspired costumes to do our waterfront performance and parade, rather than wearing our normal uniforms – and the theme we chose was Superheroes. Continue reading