Category Archives: Videos

Batucada beginners’ drumming course starts 2 July 2017

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Learn samba drumming with Wellington Batucada!

CubaDupa day 1 - Batucada in the street - photo by Alex EfimoffOur next Batucada beginners’ drumming course begins 2 July 2017.

It will be held on Sundays from 1pm to 3pm at our rehearsal space, Whitireia Performing Arts Centre – 25-27 Vivian Street – Studio T1, Level 3.

The course runs for 6 weeks, dates as follows: Sunday 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 July and Sunday 6 August.

 

Screenshot of Wellington Batucada in the All Blacks Rugby World Cup 2011 victory parade - TV3Please make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes early on the first day (2 July) so that we have time to register you.

Fee is $80 for all 6 sessions if paid in advance, or $18 per session.

Existing Batucada members are welcome to come and help or try out a new instrument, $20 Batmember special price for the full course.

PLEASE NOTE that we are asking you to pay for at least the first session in advance in order to secure your place.

Here’s the info:

Make a deposit into the Wellington Batucada bank account ($18 if paying for individual sessions, or $80 for the whole 6 week course).

Account no. 38-9012-0348830-00
Please put your name and “Beginner” in the payment detail fields

We are a community group that rely on the income from the beginners course, so you can cancel up until 2 weeks before the start, but no refunds after 18th June.

We are looking forward to sharing our music and rhythms with you. SEE YOU THERE!

If you’d like to register your interest, and receive more info about the beginner’s course, please visit our Join page and fill in the online form.

Newtown Fair 2015 - all roads lead to Batu-Ne-Zna - photo by the Renegade Peach Project

Batucada beginners’ drumming course starts 12 June 2016

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Learn samba drumming with Wellington Batucada!

Bledisloe Cup waterfront paradeOur next Batucada beginners’ drumming course begins 12 June 2016.

It will be held on Sundays from 1pm to 3pm at our temporary rehearsal space, Community Music Junction, Level 1, 4 Hopper Street, Mt Cook, Wellington.

The course runs for 6 weeks, dates as follows: Sunday 12, 19, 26 June and Sunday 3, 10, 17 July.

Please make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes early on the first day (12 June) so that we have time to register you.

Fee is $60 for all 6 sessions if paid in advance, or $12.50 per session. Existing Batucada members are welcome to come and help or try out a new instrument, $20 Batmember special price for the full course.

SEE YOU THERE!

Farewell to Thistle Hall

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The end of an era

Day of the Dead Wellington Batucada team photo. By Alan Shuker

Batucada at Thistle Hall, dressed up in our Day of The Dead costumes, ready for CubaDupa 2016

It’s been our home and our heart for 15 years, but today we had to say goodbye to Thistle Hall – our headquarters at the top of Cuba Street in Wellington (the Coolest Little Capital in the world).

We’ve had a thousand and one band practices at Thistle Hall, got dressed up for many a Sevens gig, prepared for CubaDupa and Cuba Street Carnival there, said farewell to our dear friend Sanny there, stored all our gear, held get-togethers and parties, meetings and AGMs, learned together and played together and shared our love of music together, laughed and cried and drummed and danced there.

Batucada superheroes at Thistle Hall - Wellington Sevens 2016

Batucada superheroes at Thistle Hall – Wellington Sevens 2016

We don’t know where we’re going to end up – our needs are somewhat specialised – we need space to rehearse, a wooden floor to dance on, storage space for our drums, disabled access, some kind of cooling system (drumming is hot work!), not too expensive (we’re a self-sustaining voluntary community group), heaps of parking space, loos and water, inner city if possible – and of course, somewhere where we can drum for 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon and make a reasonable amount of noise without annoying the neighbours.

2015 Sevens waterfront parade day 1 - family photo by Alan Shuker

Steampunk Batucada family photo outside Thistle Hall, ready to play at the Wellington Sevens 2015

Our short-term temporary home until we find somewhere more suitable will be Community Music Junction, Level 1, 4 Hopper Street. As it’s carpeted our dancers can’t dance there without risk of injury, so we hope we’ll be able to find somewhere else really soon. We really don’t want to be separated from our beautiful dancers any longer than is absolutely necessary.

If you know of anywhere that might be suitable, or have any ideas, please contact us at wellingtonbatucada@gmail.com or call Lisa on 021 112 1619.

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Relay for Life 2016

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Celebrate cancer survivors and carers; 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 2016 - Tim G and the tams - photo by ReFocus PhotographyWe’ve been taking part in the Wellington Cancer Society Relay for Life for a few years now, and we’re always very honoured to be asked back. This year was no exception.

A beautiful day, hundreds of cancer survivors, supporters and their families, with Wellington Batucada dancers and drummers all set to lead the crowd around the first lap of Frank Kitts Park.

Once the speeches were over and the event officially launched, it was our job to parade around the outer edge of Frank Kitts in celebration of the first of many (many) laps that would be completed by participants over the next 24 hours. Tim G did a great job of directing, and Sarah did an equally great job of leading the dancers. It was her first outing as dance leader, and they all looked fabulous, so well done all.

Relay for Life is always an amazing event, full of hope and positivity as well as remembrance and sadness for those lost to cancer, and we feel privileged to be a part of it. Continue reading

CubaDupa 2016 – day 2

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Mass samba madness in the tropical heat

In which 150+ samba drummers and dancers from across NZ (and Oz!) get together and drum our little sox off in the Mass Samba Bloco Super CubaDupa Extravaganza (thing).

Mass rehearsal

CubaDupa day 2 - rehearsal in full swing - photo by Alan ShukerStill on a huge buzz from the night before, we began CubaDupa day 2 with a mass rehearsal at Mt Cook School. It’s an amazing feeling rehearsing with a bazillion of your fellow sambistas from across New Zealand (and Oz!) – such a powerful sound.

The bloco was sorted into sections, just like at normal band practice, with members of the different samba groups all mixed up together in each section. It’s great to spend some time rehearsing and playing with members of other samba groups – it gives you a wider perspective on what you play. All the pieces we were playing in the mass samba jam were from Sambanui (which means we all know them) plus (from London School of Samba) Fred’s original samba, which we also all know. Continue reading

CubaDupa 2016 – day 1

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Drumming in my skull – Day of the Dead stylee

There’s something about Cuba Street that brings out the best, and the coolest, and the weirdest, and the most magical, and the most creative, and the downright awesomest. That’s why CubaDupa is so blimmin’ wonderful, and why it’s one of our favourite weekends of the year.

Day of the Dead Wellington Batucada team photo. By Alan Shuker

Once again we brought our fellow sambisatas from around the country to join us for the weekend. We were thrilled to share Wellington’s funkiest street with AKSamba (Auckland), Bay Batucada (Hawkes Bay), Sambatron/Tauranga Samba (Hamilton/Tauranga), and Samba del Sol (Nelson) – and this year for the first time we also hosted members of our extended family from across the ditch – O’Zirigidum from Melbourne. Welcome, sports!

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Newtown Fair 2016

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Fun in the sun on the streets of Newtown

Newtown Fair 2016 - dancers - photo by Paul TaylorI was struck by how many people came and talked to me as I wandered through the Fair earlier in the day, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Newtown. Easy to spot in my giant red hat and red Batucada T-shirt, I was constantly being stopped and asked “What time are you guys playing? I can’t wait to see you!”.

People really LOVE us – and for many, we complete their Newtown experience in an all-drumming, all-dancing way that they look forward to every year. I think that’s pretty awesome – and it was really nice to be reminded of that fact in such an immediate way. Continue reading

Wellington Rugby Sevens 2016

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Superheroes ahoy! (again)

Batucada superheroes at the stadium - Wellington Sevens 2016 - photo by Alan ShukerIt was a slightly different year for the Sevens. No city centre parade this year (we love the Sevens Parade because it always gets such huge crowds – plus we always have such fun drumming the players into Civic Square).

Never mind – the theme this year was Superpowers Unleashed, so we all got dressed up in our superhero costumes again (we’ve done that theme for the Sevens before) and headed off to Thistle Hall to get picked up by bus and taken to the stadium.

This year they decided they wanted us to play twice on both days, but only on the walkway approaching the stadium, rather than doing a parade all the way along the waterfront. We missed giving a big old wave to all the costumed partygoers at all the establishments along the waterfront, but had a great time parading up and down the walkway in our costumes. It was a wee bit windy, but also a wee bit sunny, which is what you want when you’re drumming. Continue reading

Wellington Footvolley Championship 2016

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Batucada goes to the seaside

Footvolley 2016 - front row - photo by Roger HendersonIt’s been a couple of years since we played at the Footvolley Championship at Oriental Bay, so we were happy to get the opportunity to perform again this year.

Gorgeous day (the Summer of 2016 will long go down in Wellington history as some of the best sustained sunshiny weather in years) and a good crowd watching the athletes doing their crazy football-crossed-with-volleyball gymnastics on the beach. Continue reading

Wellington Santa Parade 2015

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Tinsel and starry hats in the summer sun

Wellington Santa Parade 2015 - Paquita & Christian - photo by Alan ShukerLisa’s instructions for costuming were “Red or green T-shirts to match the Christmassy theme, plus whatever Christmas-related pimpimg you want to do on your drums, heads and hats”.

Some people took this more seriously than others – particularly Paquita who turned up wearing the most amazing starry headdress I’ve ever seen. Awesome!

Such a beautiful sunny day, the crowds were enormous (70,000 they said), we were pretty awesome (and oh so modest!) and Tess (surdo #3), Charlotte (caixa) and Shelly (surdo #2) all played their first gig. Great stuff! Continue reading