Lots of events in fall quarter!

UPDATED!!!

Mestre Silvinho will visit us on November 17th (thursday), when he will also be a guest lecturer in the Movement and Culture class at WWU; he will have a music class for us at WWU in the PAC, room 27, from 5:30 to 7pm. you can find a map here: www.wwu.edu/map
There will be free parking in the gravel lots south of campus, and then it's only about a 5-minute walk.

Mestre Silvinho will be BACK in Bellingham on November 19th (saturday), for a day of workshops and fun! We will hold the workshop in the Majestic Ballroom underground room; on the southwest corner of Forest and Maple (the entrance is on Maple Street). We plan to start promptly at 12:30, and go until 4:30 or so!

Regular Practice continues to be Mondays at 5:30 in the MultiPurpose Room (MPR) of WWU. Everyone is welcome! wear comfortable clothes. a yellow shirt, black/dark pants are preferred, and wear comfortable shoes!

FICA in Seattle has regular practices in Seattle other times in the week, but especially on Sundays from 4 to 6. Their studio is on King Street and 8th avenue, in the international district, a couple of blocks away from the train station. They have open rodas the first sunday of the month at the same time and location.

we might also be lucky enough to get a visit from Mestre Silvinho's Mestre, Mestre Jurandir, the last week in November. be on the lookout for more details.


Finally: there are initial plans for a gathering of all groups in FICA Northwest (Portland, Olympia, Seattle, Bellingham), in January, tentatively Sunday the 15th, tentatively from 10 to 6. The details are still being worked out, but stay tuned... and yes, there will be a carpool!

Non-capoeira events:

Keith Doran (who has kindly joined us to play djembe during one of our rodas) teaches a west-african drumming class at the Old Foundry every Monday and Wednesday starting at 7pm

Our most recent review in the Western Front

The WWU student newspaper just published a new feature about our group.

There are (inevitably) a few inaccuracies. To get a better picture of who we are and what we do (and to give due to our teachers) you might want to watch the video about FICA posted below.

In Capoeira Angola, the bateria (i.e. the percussion ensemble) includes three berimbaus (which are Brazilian instruments with African roots, not Portuguese instruments), an atabaque (a large drum - which is NOT the same as a djembe: djembes are African, but when slaves were brought to the Americas they could not find the same kind of tree that djembes are carved out of), two pandeiros (which in English we would call tambourines), a reco-reco (the same principle as a washboard, but made from canes or hollowed wood) and an agogo (a pair of cowbells).

There's also a photo gallery (with some ADORABLE pictures of Ben with Nyah and Carys) and a video.

A shout-out goes to Keith Doran, who teaches West African Drumming classes here in Bellingham for playing djembe during the roda in the video!

The music in the video is Mestre Moraes, singing :"ponha la, vaqueiro, ponha jaleco de couro"

A couple of inaccuracies in the video:

The "zebra dance" is actually an African ritual, from which capoeira draws at least some of its roots - it is not a specifically Brasilian thing. During the course of the slave trade, people were intentionally mixed so that they could not communicate with one another and so organize and rebel. Of course, many rebellions DID occur regardless of this, but specific practices did not have a large community to support them, so traditions of different African groups mixed with one another and with the local culture.

And be sure: while many (most?) capoeira angola are meant to be friendly and non-contact, there are certainly times when the fighting is real. Not at our practices perhaps, but out there in the wide world of rodas it's a different story!

Workshop Success!

THANK YOU to Mestre Silvinho and Leika for coming up and sharing their time and their knowledge with us. Thank you to Ernesto and Antonia for coming down from Vancouver to spend the day with us!

And finally, THANK YOU to all of the people who came to hang out with us today.

E' tu que e moleque, moleque e' tu!

Workshop SUNDAY with Mestre Silvinho!

Friends old and new,

we are SO happy that our teacher, Mestre Silvinho of FICA will be coming to lead a workshop for us THIS SUNDAY, October 9th. The schedule is as follows:

11:00 am to 1pm: movement workshop
-lunch-
1:45 to 3:00pm: music and songs workshop, followed by a roda.

All of the above will take place in the MultiPurpose Room (MPR) of the Viking Union (VU) building at Western Washington University. Street parking is available around the VU, starting on Garden Street.

If you park on or around Garden Street, there is an elevator on the street level: take it to the 6th floor, walk out of the VU and then make a left.

We are asking for a $5 - $10 donation (or more!!!) to contribute to Mestre Silvinho's time and travel.

AFTER this part of the day is over, some of us will drive with Mestre Silvinho to the Lummi Youth Academy to conduct a workshop for the young people who live there. You are welcome to join us, but room in people's cars will be limited, and there is NO bus service to Lummi on Sundays.

We REALLY hope to see you there!

At the Bellingham Farmers' Market - Saturay September 24th

Thanks to everyone who came down to take advantage of a beautiful day!

Especially thanks to Randy, Sarah, Juliet and Devin!