" I Go to Rio ! "
Peter Allen's " I Go to Rio " . . . with a Gail's birthday twist
Royal Food Taster: Melanie's previous life
Tasting Gail's birthday cake . . . . before everyone else, even the birthday girl !
Monday, 30 June 2008
Gail's Birthday pics
" I Go to Rio ! "
Royal Food Taster: Melanie's previous life
Tasting Gail's birthday cake . . . . before everyone else, even the birthday girl !
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Great news: QLD Roars against racism
I received some fantastic news yesterday: we have been selected again to perform during "Queensland Roars against Racism", with the main feature being the soccer match between Queensland Roar and Brazilian team Palmeiras, at SunCorp Stadium!!
We participated in this last year and I think everyone agrees this was one of the highlights of last year, if not the last few years.
This year is going to be even more spectacular: we will team up with Angelo Salgado's Groove Brazil dance school, resulting in a massive performance of 65 drummers and dancers in the middle of SunCorp Stadium, at half time at an international soccer match. How good is that?
It gets even better: we have also been asked to help out the day before the match for promotions in the city, at Reddacliff place, next to the new City Council. This will be part of a full day promotion, starting at 7am (can you believe it?) to about midnight.
The schedule is as follows (some details might change):
Friday 11 July, Reddacliff place (George Street in the city):
One of the on-field performances will be absolutely spectacular, involving two teams of percussionists/dancers, each dressed in the team colours of either Roar (orange) or Palmeiras (green) and me dressed as a referee (I already have a whistle), with 'competitive' interaction between the two teams, followed by a merge of the two teams who will then perform together. Some choreography to be practiced!
Given the complexity of it all, I will prepare a running sheet that you can print out, this will be posted on the Blog somewhere this week.
We only have two rehearsals to go for this, and we need to practice with Groove Brazil too. I haven't fully thought this through yet, again more details later, but I'd appreciate everyone's attendance during the next two rehearsals. These rehearsals will be free of charge for everyone who participates in these performances.
I hope you're all as excited as I am!
We participated in this last year and I think everyone agrees this was one of the highlights of last year, if not the last few years.
This year is going to be even more spectacular: we will team up with Angelo Salgado's Groove Brazil dance school, resulting in a massive performance of 65 drummers and dancers in the middle of SunCorp Stadium, at half time at an international soccer match. How good is that?
It gets even better: we have also been asked to help out the day before the match for promotions in the city, at Reddacliff place, next to the new City Council. This will be part of a full day promotion, starting at 7am (can you believe it?) to about midnight.
The schedule is as follows (some details might change):
Friday 11 July, Reddacliff place (George Street in the city):
- 12:35pm Samba School performance
- 1.30pm-2pm Samba School leading parade with dancers from Groove Brazil
- Approx 4pm: workshop/performance at concourse in front of stadium
- 5pm: 5 minute performance on field
- 6.30pm: BIG performance on field with Groove Brazil (65 performers!)
- 7.45pm: Another BIG performance on field
One of the on-field performances will be absolutely spectacular, involving two teams of percussionists/dancers, each dressed in the team colours of either Roar (orange) or Palmeiras (green) and me dressed as a referee (I already have a whistle), with 'competitive' interaction between the two teams, followed by a merge of the two teams who will then perform together. Some choreography to be practiced!
Given the complexity of it all, I will prepare a running sheet that you can print out, this will be posted on the Blog somewhere this week.
We only have two rehearsals to go for this, and we need to practice with Groove Brazil too. I haven't fully thought this through yet, again more details later, but I'd appreciate everyone's attendance during the next two rehearsals. These rehearsals will be free of charge for everyone who participates in these performances.
I hope you're all as excited as I am!
Friday, 27 June 2008
Congratulations Melanie
Can I have a big applause for Melanie please, for buying her own surdo (and caixa) and painting them both in the wonderful colours of Pink & Green?!
Well done Melanie! (applause fades in, then out. Little kid takes over and parents make pictures. You know!)
It is great to see more and more sambistas getting their own instruments - I can only carry so many to rehearsal and if we want to grow this is the only way.
I have another surdo, tamborim and even cavaquinho for sale if anyone is interested. All new!
Well done Melanie! (applause fades in, then out. Little kid takes over and parents make pictures. You know!)
It is great to see more and more sambistas getting their own instruments - I can only carry so many to rehearsal and if we want to grow this is the only way.
I have another surdo, tamborim and even cavaquinho for sale if anyone is interested. All new!
Monday, 23 June 2008
Being late for gigs...
I might step on a few toes here but it really has to be said:
This Saturday again there were a few people that arrived at the gig after 11.30, the time requested to be there, and some even arrived there just a couple of minutes before or even after the gig had started. Same thing happened with the second set. As everyone noticed, this always leads to a lot of stress, last minute changes of instrumentation, me getting cranky etc. We're supposed to have fun instead (and that includes me)!
Erin and I have been working on a "samba school handbook" to help new members in particular, and I thought I include a paragraph here:
Saturday was not an exception, and unfortunately it tends to be the same people being late. In the past this has lead to us missing a great opportunity for a TV performance on Channel 9, amongst others...
Thank you to all of you who were there on time, or even early enough to help with the instruments. I couldn't do this without you!
I hope for your understanding and cooperation.
Thanks
Remko
This Saturday again there were a few people that arrived at the gig after 11.30, the time requested to be there, and some even arrived there just a couple of minutes before or even after the gig had started. Same thing happened with the second set. As everyone noticed, this always leads to a lot of stress, last minute changes of instrumentation, me getting cranky etc. We're supposed to have fun instead (and that includes me)!
Erin and I have been working on a "samba school handbook" to help new members in particular, and I thought I include a paragraph here:
On 'gig day', you will be asked to be there some time before the event starts, typically at least 30 minutes. It is important that you are there at that time, as there are typically last minute things to discuss, instruments to hand out and tune, set up, etc. Arriving just a few minutes before the actual gig, or even after the gig has started, is absolutely unacceptable, as this means we may have to re-arrange instruments, delay the performance, or even cancel the gig. In short, if you are late, you are really letting everyone else down, and it adds a lot of stress, which of course then gets in the way of having fun, the whole purpose of the gig. So please don't be late.I guess the key thing is you're letting the whole group down, not just me. So please make an effort to be on time. Think ahead: double check what time you need to be there, do you need parking, where are you going to park, how long will that take, if you carry an instrument how will you do it, will it be busy, etc. And if you're unexpectedly running late, please SMS me, so at least I know if you're going to be there (SMS is better than voicemail as I can read that quickly).
Saturday was not an exception, and unfortunately it tends to be the same people being late. In the past this has lead to us missing a great opportunity for a TV performance on Channel 9, amongst others...
Thank you to all of you who were there on time, or even early enough to help with the instruments. I couldn't do this without you!
I hope for your understanding and cooperation.
Thanks
Remko
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Fete de la Musique - debrief
Well that was quite an event yesterday! We played with about 18 drummers in Queen St Mall, something that won't happen too often. We made quite an impact (did anyone hear the screaming after the first 'bang' in the 2nd set?). I've been told we drew the largest crowd of all the performers that day, and there were many performers. I hope some of you had the chance to see some of the other performances as well!
So thank you again, well done. Thanks also to those of you who came early at 11am to help unload instruments, and to those of you who stayed afterwards to help load the instruments.
Gigs like this are always a big hassle, and what I really don't like is that I don't have the chance to wind down with you after the gig and go for a drink or something. I hope some of you made it to the coffee club for a free lunch!
In case you haven't heard yet, the 2nd set was cut short by the organisation - they had offered us a 2nd set the day before the gig only, but they had not realised that loud groups like us were only allowed to do one set. So when we started playing again I believe a few shop owners complained and that was it. Only in Australia...
So thank you again, well done. Thanks also to those of you who came early at 11am to help unload instruments, and to those of you who stayed afterwards to help load the instruments.
Gigs like this are always a big hassle, and what I really don't like is that I don't have the chance to wind down with you after the gig and go for a drink or something. I hope some of you made it to the coffee club for a free lunch!
In case you haven't heard yet, the 2nd set was cut short by the organisation - they had offered us a 2nd set the day before the gig only, but they had not realised that loud groups like us were only allowed to do one set. So when we started playing again I believe a few shop owners complained and that was it. Only in Australia...
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Fete de la musique details
OK, this Saturday we're part of the first "Fete de la Musique" in Brisbane ever! We've got a prime spot on Queen Street Mall, in between David Jones and the Pig & Whistle.
We're playing 1pm-1.20pm, and we have just been offered a second slot, from 12.00pm-12.20pm! Tonight at rehearsal I'll check who of you can make it, and I look forward to making a big impact!
If you want to do the 12pm spot as well, please be there 11.30am. Paul and Erin have been kind enough to agree to meet me at 11am to unload the instruments and guard them while I do the formalities of registering us all the way at the casino - thanks guys!!!
This is a street event so I'd like to not make it too formal, so dress code is "extreme pink & green". I'll make sure I've got a load of flyers to hand out too!
UPDATE: We've got 19 people confirmed. This will be spectacular! Thanks everyone!!!
We're playing 1pm-1.20pm, and we have just been offered a second slot, from 12.00pm-12.20pm! Tonight at rehearsal I'll check who of you can make it, and I look forward to making a big impact!
If you want to do the 12pm spot as well, please be there 11.30am. Paul and Erin have been kind enough to agree to meet me at 11am to unload the instruments and guard them while I do the formalities of registering us all the way at the casino - thanks guys!!!
This is a street event so I'd like to not make it too formal, so dress code is "extreme pink & green". I'll make sure I've got a load of flyers to hand out too!
UPDATE: We've got 19 people confirmed. This will be spectacular! Thanks everyone!!!
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Ideas please about weekly class format
As you hopefully have noticed, I have tried to lift the level of the Samba School since January this year, mainly by introducing songs and making arrangements. I had to do this as I needed something more than what we'd been doing for the last years. I am very happy with the progress we have all made since then, and indeed I am extremely proud of all of you that have made this possible, but I have realised that something else will need to change as well:
If we just focus on improvement, and increasing the level of the samba school, there will be a huge barrier for new people to join us. Not only that, there will not be as much opportunity for the current members to learn other instruments. So, we probably need to go to some sort of combination of "beginners" vs "advanced class", or "learning" vs "rehearsal" classes. But, in what format?
One option is to split each class in half, e.g. the first hour beginners, then advanced. Or, every second week beginners, etc. But maybe you have better ideas!
As you are all part of the samba school, I'd really appreciate your ideas, so please comment to this post, keeping in mind that short and sharp ideas are probably most effective. Thank you!
If we just focus on improvement, and increasing the level of the samba school, there will be a huge barrier for new people to join us. Not only that, there will not be as much opportunity for the current members to learn other instruments. So, we probably need to go to some sort of combination of "beginners" vs "advanced class", or "learning" vs "rehearsal" classes. But, in what format?
One option is to split each class in half, e.g. the first hour beginners, then advanced. Or, every second week beginners, etc. But maybe you have better ideas!
As you are all part of the samba school, I'd really appreciate your ideas, so please comment to this post, keeping in mind that short and sharp ideas are probably most effective. Thank you!
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Fete de la Musique
OK, finally confirmation, we'll play Saturday 21 June at 1pm for 25 minutes in Queen Street Mall! Further details to be confirmed after Friday, but keep this time free if you can! I don't know exactly where we play, the pitch is called QSM 8 - Edward so this suggests it's close to Edward Street. After party at David Jones!!!
I'll make sure we've got flyers to hand out on the day!
Please comment on this post, or email me, to confirm you can make it. Let's leave a lasting impression!
EDIT: This will be an "extreme creative Pink & Green" event - in the spirit of this street festival. No uniform, more details later!
I'll make sure we've got flyers to hand out on the day!
Please comment on this post, or email me, to confirm you can make it. Let's leave a lasting impression!
EDIT: This will be an "extreme creative Pink & Green" event - in the spirit of this street festival. No uniform, more details later!
Monday, 9 June 2008
Samba weekend in Hervey Bay
We've been approached by the Fraser Coast Cultural Festival for possible gigs 28-29 March next year. Lots of details still to be agreed, but I expect it would involve a big bus, a lot of sambistas, one baby, some sort of accommodation provided and gigs over two days in Hervey Bay.
Before I commit to this, I'd be interested in your thoughts, and therefore I have opened a little poll in the top-right corner. I look forward to your thoughts!
Before I commit to this, I'd be interested in your thoughts, and therefore I have opened a little poll in the top-right corner. I look forward to your thoughts!
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Gig on Saturday 9 August
More details to follow, but we have been confirmed as the main (and closing) act during "Soiree", an event organised by UQ at International House, St Lucia. We'll play somewhere between 4-5pm on the main stage.
My main objective for this gig will be to tap into the student community to expand the samba school!
So please keep this date available, if you can.
My main objective for this gig will be to tap into the student community to expand the samba school!
So please keep this date available, if you can.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Queensland again Roars against Racism!
Just a quick message to let you know it's very likely we'll be involved in the next Queensland Roars against Racism in Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 12 July. I am meeting with Multicultural Affairs QLD this Friday to discuss this!
Queensland Roar will be playing Palmeras, a team from Sao Paolo!
Queensland Roar will be playing Palmeras, a team from Sao Paolo!
Monday, 2 June 2008
Fête de la Musique
Just a quick note that it's extremely likely we'll play someway, somehow, somewhere during the Fête de la Musique (ask Cedric for the correct pronunciation) on 21 June, so please keep this in mind when booking your skiing holidays ;-)
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