Paraíso - from one capital to another…

London samba school Paraíso confimed that they will be bringing a costumed contingent of happy drummers and dancers to the Capital of Culture this year for the Liverpool Samba School-hosted carnival spectacular.

Bateria

Photo by Edgley Cesar.

Crowd pleasers at Notting Hill carnival, Paraíso will be bringing some award-winning sambistas to join the ever-growing line up for Liverpool’s evening carnival on Saturday 2nd of August 2008.
Don’t forget, you can be involved too! Whether you would prefer to be behind the scenes or right up there in the excitement of the parade, get in touch with us via email (rogerconga at aol dot com) or leave a comment on this site.
If you are in London and are interested in samba, contact Henrique via the Paraíso site - who knows, we may see you sambaing with us in Liverpool!

Call to Action on BBC news for Samba Carnival 2008!

“We are going to knock people’s socks off! … Whether you are a seamstress, a carpenter, a dancer, a musician, all types of skills are needed!”  [Roger Morris]

Lyna and Simone were freezing their feathers off at the Bluecoat - but hey all for a good cause - a short performance on BBC News Northwest Tonight!

Samba school mestre Roger Morris made a the call for the people of Merseyside to offer their time and talents in return for a part in the most exciting community focused event of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year 2008.

Video is also available to view on the BBC site

from www.vimeo.com posted with vodpod

Ways you can be involved in Liverpool’s biggest carnival ever

To enable the event to be the highlight of the people’s Capital of Culture year - anyone who is interested may come forward to become involved in any capacity… Here are a few ideas of how you can get involved: 

Good with your hands?

You could get involved with the float making - carpentry, painting, papier maché, making structures and armatures for ‘gigants’ or ‘destaques’…

Handy with a glue gun or a sewing machine?

Then Maeve needs you to help finish the amazing costumes for all the participants - whether sticking on sequins or doing some sewing and precise work, there’s something to help with!

Enjoy the idea of the parade but don’t want to get dressed up?

We also need stewards, people to hand out water to thirsty drummers and dancers…

Fancy yourself as a dancer or drummer?

Come along to one of our rehearsals and have a chat , see what we do and best of all - have a go!

If you have any idea of a way you could help or just enthusiastic to pitch in, let us know and we can find ways for you to be involved.

This is your Carnival- help us make sure its an amazing day for all, something Liverpool can be really proud of! Call Roger and Maeve on 0151 734 1110 or email rogerconga @ aol . com (remove the spaces to email) Or leave a comment on this blog

Até já! Obrigada!

 

Liverpool 2008 Carnival inspired by Rio?

Liverpool Samba School is hosting an event for the people of Liverpool - a Brasilian Samba Carnival for the Capital of Culture year.

The Rio-style carnival promises to be an truly exciting evening event, with irresistible rhythms, extravagant costumes and floats. In true Brasilian Samba style there is guaranteed to be plenty of glitz and glamour - but also as in Rio EVERYONE is invited to join in the fun!

This element of ‘inclusion’ was one of the main driving forces behind Roger and Maeve Morris’ plan for ’something special’ during a year where Liverpool will be firmly in the centre of the cultural radar in Europe and further afield.

The samba school has been running in Liverpool for over 10 years, and powered by the local community, with over 800 spectacular events behind them, the husband and wife team Morris decided what Liverpool really needs is a huge Rio Style Carnival! With all the hype about being Capital of Culture it was considered important for the people of Liverpool to be directly involved in a huge event -something memorable, fun and for everyone - the model of the Brasilian ‘Carnaval’ was seen as perfect for this.

In 2003, the Liverpool Samba School visited Mangueira Samba School situated in the centre of a favela on the hills of Rio de Janeiro. Although an impoverished area, we were so amazed by the activity all year round, with the whole community’s involvement in preparation for Carnival and the carnival competitions - rehearsals, costume making, float creation, and performance - singing, drumming, dancing and more.

As we learned, in Brasil, Carnival is one of the main eagerly awaited events of the year - importantly Carnival is not reserved just for the the young or the well-heeled - Carnival is a more like a state of mind where everyone is encouraged to forget their day-to-day troubles and enjoy life to the full.

Opening the Bluecoat in samba style

 

Bluecoat29

Originally uploaded by at the Bluecoat..

Liverpool Samba School got the crowd going as they performed at the opening of the new world class gallery at the  Bluecoat. The opening weekend welcomed over 10,000 people.

http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk