Youth and Community

Carnival of Brazil – East Acton Primary School
July 2008

The whole school from Nursery up to Year 6 teamed up with RPM to create a Carnival of Brazil, culminating in a parade around the playground for parents and friends. Just like the Samba schools in Rio, everyone got involved. Each class had a different theme for creating their costumes and dances, for example; Wildlife, the River Amazon, Capoeira and Legends of Brazil.

The workshops in both dance and costume making were lead by 3 members of RPM, Michael, Theo and Carlia, who joined the children for the parade on Friday. The sounds of the Berimbau, Samba and Axé managed to bring out the sunshine on one of the wettest weeks of the year! A good time was had by all and even the teachers and parents had a chance to join in with the dancing! The school used Carnival week as an opportunity for a wider cross-curricular study of Brazil.

Big Dance 2008 – BBC Big Screen
July 2008

Michael was invited by Swindon Dance to lead community workshops for the National Big Dance Festival, taking place at the BBC Big Screen. The workshops in Bhangra and Bollywood were for anyone aged 8 to 80 and culminated in a performance and audience participation session, where shoppers were invited to put down their bags and join in with dancers! All accompanied by some fantastic live dhol drumming!

Samba dance and drumming residency
Isambard Community School, June 2008

For two days in June Isambard School shook with the sound of Samba! Michael, along with Claudia Silva and Samba Galez, one of the largest community Samba bands in the UK, were invited in to lead the dance and drumming workshops. The aim of this residency was to take the first step in creating a youth Samba band in North Swindon and to provide the students with a new and exciting experience.