We have been practicing the corrido:

Bahia de todos os santos,
Bahia dos Orixas,
Bahia de Mae Menininha
Meniniha do Gantois

Here is some information about her, linking back to the FICA DC archives website:

http://ficadc.blogspot.com.br/2008/05/me-menininha-do-gantois.html

an excerpt:

[...]
Admired for her wisdom, grace, knowledge, humility, and firm hand, for 64 years, the incomparable Mãe Menininha held the highest rank in the Candomblé hierarchy, that ofIalorixá, or Mãe de Santo, a position that combines religious guidance, political leadership and therapeutic power at the Terreiro do Gantois… with great spiritual powers and rare personal charisma, Mãe Menininha was largely responsible for the diffusion and popularization of Candomblé in Bahia.
[...]

it's that time of the year again...

long days, warmer weather, the end of the school year... time to start training at Boulevard park.

Afro-Brasilian Festival!

Sunday, May 15th in the Multipurpose Room of the Viking Union!

 10am: Capoeira Angola Class with Mestre Silvinho
1:30pm: Samba Class with Dora Oliveira
2:45pm: West African Drum Class with Manimou Camara
4pm: West African Dance Class with N'nato Camara
5:15: Capoeira Angola Roda

 Free for students, $5 per class for the general public.

 Thanks to:
 WWU Dance Department
WWU Anthorpology Departmet
WWU Music Department
Bellingham Community Food Co-op
International Capoeira Angola Foundation

When someone with a nice camera comes along during music practice...

Thank you Fernando! these are beautiful.

This reminds me a throwback picture, back from 2013:

At Culture Shock 2017

Culture Shock is an excellent, annual, free event hosted by the Ethnic Student Center at WWU.

We were honored to share some what we have learned about Capoeira Angola there.

Note: our performance starts at 1:38:20

Mark Your Calendars...

The 2017 Afro-Brasilian Festival at WWU will be Sunday May 14th! Capoeira Angola Class with Mestre Silvinho, Samba class with Dora Oliveira, West African Dance class...

A climate of fear and violence in Washington

-On March 04, Deep Rai, a 39-year-old Sikh man in Kent, Washington, heard a cry of “go back to your own country”—before he was shot in the arm. The assailant is described as a six-foot-tall white man, with a mask covering the lower half of his face. -18-year-old Ben Keita was last seen at his mother’s home in Lake Stevens around 1 a.m. on November 26. his body was found “by a passerby January 9, dangling from a long rope tied to a high branch.”A January autopsy report says: “Although at autopsy I did not see any evidence of trauma beyond the evidence of hanging, the circumstances of the very high tree branch, uncertain location of the decedent for the six weeks prior to discovery (with a report that the area where the body was found had been previously searched), and lack of any reported suicidal ideation or attempts makes a definitive classification of the manner as suicide uncertain.” “Ben was a happy, young man,” said Ben’s father, Ibrahima Keita. “We believe that somewhere, someone must know something about this case and we urge people to come forward and contact the police.” Ben was Black and Muslim. -The story of racist threats against Belinda Seare, former WWU Student President, can be found here: https://storify.com/BhamRJC/timeline - - - - - - - - In all of our small ways, we must fight this hatred and fear.