We’re singing in the finale of the CubaDupa festival with a Brazilian samba band!
We’ve been rehearsing with Wellington Batucada, who have about 25 members. But they are joining with other Batucada bands from round the country and there will be something like 150 percussionists on the day, plus some brass (trumpet and trombone).
Here’s Wellington Batucada at CubaDupa 2017:
On vocals, there will be somewhere between 80 and 100 members of the Wellington Community Choir.
Also joining us is Brazilian songstress, Alda. Mostly we’re singing backup for Alda, who has a gorgeously deep alto voice, but one song (Bandeira Branca) is just the choir. Here’s another group performing it:
Although the band and choir will be grooving out to the beat (similar to what you saw in the video above), there is no set choreography. But we will be joined by some dancers.
So all in all, it should be quite an exciting performance. I’m just a bit worried about whether my almost 60 year old knees can handle the jandal…
After an hour and a half rehearsal tonight, they were feeling rather overworked, and I could barely walk up the path and stairs when I got home.
Between 12 noon Saturday and 6pm Sunday, there will be scores of performances, suitable for the whole family, at over 20 venues in Wellington’s Cuba St – dance, theatre, music, street performances, and plenty of street food available.
If you’re in Welly, have a look at the timetable, and come check out whatever you fancy. We’ll be on the Swan stage at about 3.20 on Sunday.
Hopefully there will be video footage I can post next week!
Thanks for reading
Videos from YouTube. Top image from CubaDupa website.
