Hi all,

Long time no blog, long time no Polish beer and.... bloody long time no bateria!!
Anyway, an opportunity to see you guys again, so feel free to drop by at any time!!

The address is 7 Minno St in Chapel Hill! And NO GIFT POLICY (we move too often, unsustainable...)

Cheers
Cedric, Stephanie and the kids...

New Australian-Brazil Association - Qld Branch

Should we, as a Samba School, do something big with the new Queensland Australian-Brazil Association ( ABrAsso ) to mark its first year anniversary in 2011 ? Like a Carnival Parade or Brazilian Film Festival .

Below is an email message from Priscilla regarding the New Queensland Australian -Brazil Association:

" . . .Hi guys, How are things going?

Yes, I have disappeared but it is because Josh had a knee surgery and has been walking on crutches. Hopefully next week we will be able to go back to our beloved samba school!

Anyway, this is our new Brazilian Association, Abrasso. I hope we can have you and all Brisamba members as part of our team!

Is it possible to upload this to the Brisamba blog so everyone else can see the message? I wish I could email people individually, but do not have email addresses. :-( .

Maracatu Estrela Brilhante 2010 in Recife

From Batuque Brasileiro's blog .

Thank you

Just a quick thank you to everyone who helped pack tonight after rehearsal - it was a world record and I was actually home just after 10pm for a change!

It looks like the packing instructions on the trailer door work! So once I finished packing up the PA inside, everything was packed! And while I hooked up the trailer (with excellent help from Warren, Darren & Nicki) Brian switched off all the lights in the hall!

Thanks everyone, not everyone knows I also spend about 30 minutes setting up before the rehearsal so I'm pleased when I can leave that quickly too!

Another Saint Mary McKillop's Miracle ?

. . . . More miracles here !

Must watch - Tijuca Comissão de Frente

As some of you know, the Comissão de Frente is the head of a carnaval parade for a samba school, and often there's acrobatics and theatre involved. Well, Tijuca, this year's winners, thought it was time for some magic.

Have a look, and think of it next time you're getting dressed for the day!

Surdo levels

I thought some people might benefit from some 'goals' for various instruments. Here's a first attempt to document the levels for surdo players. Use it to set goals for yourself, or to plan where you want to be X months from now. Note this is not intended as a 'must achieve', the bateria can do with all levels, e.g. there's nothing wrong with someone who stays a 'level 1' surdo player and is able to play a strong 2nd surdo!

Here they are:

• Level 1 - able to maintain a strong rhythm on 1st or 2nd surdo, with little slowing down or speeding up
• Level 2 - able to confidently play the intro of a samba on 1st or 3rd surdo, as well as the most common breaks
• Level 3 - able to confidently play the common 3rd surdo rhythms
• Level 4 - able to play surdo solo, playing both 1st and 2nd surdo patterns, as used at the start of many sambas when there is just surdo, cavaquinho, and vocals
• Level 5 - able to play 3rd surdo improvisations that 'fit' within the context of the song

Each level implies complete mastery of the previous levels.

Comments please - does this help? Are the levels reasonable? If enough people like this I'll do the same for the other instruments!

Mangueira 2010

Surdo Choreography

Remko, Can we - all surdo players - practice the choreography similar to the videoclip linked below ?

Olodum
Olodum Alternative

It shows fearless commitment and dedication to the bloco. Will send shiver to the Roar's opponent.

Maracatu Voodooo Dance

Witch-doctor Brian trying to cure Maracatu possessed sambistas.

Doctor, doctor...

I need a maracatu fix. Gettin' twitchy, here. Haven't seen any swishy skirts or heard any shishy xeqeres in a long long time. How about it? :)

That was Amazing MkII

For more pictures, please try the link below:

Brisbane Roar Gig

That was AMAZING!!!

Congratulations to all of you for a VERY slick performance tonight. Before the game, in the stands, on the field, it all worked out beautifully. I sometimes have to remind myself that some of you have never played an instrument before. Congratulations!

Special congrats to Warren and Darren, they played surdo very well after only two classes. Well done guys!

Now, I also have some not so good news. Both Vitor and Martim are going back to Sao Paolo in the next couple of weeks, this was their last performance with us. Thank you guys for everything, you have inspired us very much in the past few months! Also, Peter is going to go to Germany for 6 months or so. Fortunately he'll be back after that!

Guys, again, well done for tonight, and thank you for helping me to make my dream possible!

Details for Saturday gig

I'll keep updating this post with details as they'll become available:

• Dress code: Roar shirt, white pants. Please no jeans/black pants. Our own white pants with the pink & green stripes are OK. I've got some spare ones if anyone needs them
• Be there: 5pm - at Inform car park opposite main vehicle entrance on Castlemaine Street
• Parking at the Inform carpark has been arranged for Erin, Denis, Claire, Lynne, Patty, Elwin and myself ONLY. We will get all instruments from the trailer, and won't have a dressing room. You can leave stuff in my car if you want.
• Guest tickets - I'll distribute those shortly after 5pm at the car park.
• The event is a big deal - TV all over the place. Please be on time and take the time to listen to instructions, we only have a few days to organise this.
• We'll play during the game, at half time, and most likely also before the game on both north and south plaza. During the game, we'll have our own section (for the whole samba school, not limited to 6 this time). We'll get assistance from 200 kids.
• Keep checking the blog for updates please

Here are some of the calls we'll do when in the stands:

• Crowd1
• Crowd2
• Crowd3
• Crowd4

This is the break we'll do once we're all gathered at the centre of the field.

And this is the grand final at the end of our half time performance.

Instruments

First Surdo: Mike, Will

Second Surdo: Brian, Darren

Third Surdo: Fernando, Martim, Artur, Warren

Caixa: Denis, Vitor, Jason, Peter

Shaker: Sarah, Gail, Lynne, Patty, Elwin, Zelia, Miki

Tamborim: Claire, Erin

Grouping for pre-match performances

Caxton Street side: Jason, Vitor, Claire, Gail, Fernando, Lynne, Will, Elwin, Miki, Darren, Warren

Milton Road side: Remko, Erin, Mike, Sarah, Denis, Brian, Patty, Peter, Martim, Artur, Zelia

Aisles/sectors for half time performance

339: Denis, Gail, Brian

340: Vitor, Miki, Darren

301: Fernando, Lynne

302: Patty, Martim

303: Artur, Zelia

304: Erin, Claire, Warren

308: Mike, Sarah, Peter

309: Jason, Elwin, Will

(refer to map for location)

Gig THIS SATURDAY - SunCorp stadium

As discussed on Thursday, we've got a special event at SunCorp stadium this Saturday 30 January. Brisbane Roar has made an announcement about a temporary coach for a couple of weeks. He happens to be Dutch, but has got roots in Surinam and Curacao, two places I lived when I was a child. His name is Patrick Kluivert.

I am currently discussing exactly what we'll do, but it will involve the whole samba school, playing on the plaza, in the crowd (looks like we'll get our own section) and on the field. Again, details to be confirmed.

Because of time constraints, I would appreciate it if you could let me know asap if you can be part of this - via email.

Kick off will be at 6pm, I think we'd need to be there 5pm.

UPDATE: well we will do something very special indeed! What do you think about a paradinha with REAL fireworks????!!!!!

Gig alert

I am currently discussing a few gigs, here are the details so far for your information:

• Sat 30 January 6pm - the last Roar game of the season. This is going to be a special one, and if all is going ahead we would have the whole samba school perform in a very, very special way, maybe supported by 400 kids. I would love to be able to do this with ALL of you. I have further details that I'll discuss tonight as I shouldn't put these on the Internet...
• Somewhere in June, we might play at the Eumundi markets, during a body painting festival, leading a parade of, well, painted people. Might result in some good pictures! And maybe we can paint Brian as well. It's a bit of a drive, but maybe we can make a day of it. I can only do this if enough people are interested in this - let me know. We could car pool, and maybe combine with a Noosa visit.

Happy new year - first rehearsal 2010

Everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope you all had a great break and a nice Xmas. I have been pretty much isolated from the rest of the world down in Tassie, with no email and no mobile phone for weeks. Refreshing...

The first rehearsal for this year will be next week, Thursday 21 January. I know I said earlier we would start the 14th but we still have interstate guests and I am also busy with a few other things this week, so best to start relaxed the week after. I know most of you are keen to get going again so apologies for that, and see you next week!

Remko

Last Pictures of the Year

The pictures are a bit grainy. I've tried not to use the flash in order include the Christmas trees' lights that Remko has put them on specially for us !.

Last rehearsal for 2009

This Thursday 10 December is the last rehearsal for 2009. I propose we make it quite informal, with lots of pagode, time for socialising, and lots of fun.

If you want to bring some nibblies you're more than welcome!

I will also have a little present for everyone....

And, this Thursday's class will be free for everyone again.

I really hope to see all of you there, before we break for the holidays!

Well done everyone!