La Conga! Cuban Carnival CoLab

It's been the final day of learning before the sharing! Although the majority of the day was taken up with preparations for tomorrow, we've still had chance to try out different combinations of ensemble and practice parts that were a bit scrappy. We spent the afternoon rehearsing the dancing while the rhythmically stronger musicians (mainly percussionists) held down the beat on various percussion instruments. We then went into the corridor to sound check what it would be like for the sharing - unfortunately a few people came out and told us we were too loud! Luckily, we've got clearance for performing in the corridor for the sharing. In the evening we wrote a list of the things we still needed to do in preparation for the sharing. This included the following; Work out who will play which instruments in the sharing Organise how the sets are structured Agree structure for each piece (open to flexibility in sharing) Write up words for the audience to join in singing R...

We're past halfway! I've learnt a lot so far and am really enjoying the process of putting together such a fun and collaborative art form. Today we explored the Mozambique style, which originated in Southeast Africa and although to the Western ear sounds quite like the conga, it has many different rhythms and the way the ensemble is constructed varies. When dancing, we learnt some of the steps involved in Mozambique style. It seems a little more difficult than the conga, which is probably why I had never experienced it before but Luanda is a good teacher and we were soon all dancing around the room! Rather than the steps focusing on the feet, Mozambique seems to require more attention to be paid to the arms and involving movement other than simple stepping and walking side to side. The dancers were taught some more complex moves whilst the musicians got our teeth stuck into the rhythmic aspects and tried to tighten up our ensemble skills. I'm starting to notice how much I...

Today we danced! I think I did more dancing than playing (first time that's ever happened). Starting at the later time of 3pm, we were taught by Luanda again and started putting together small routines using the basic steps we had learnt. With a dancer in each of the small groups, this was made slightly easier as they are used to channelling their creative input in this way. These routines were then incorporated into a much larger group piece as we began mimicking the feel of a Cuban carnival. The transitions between the choreographed sections involved a "revolution" and "bridge". Revolution consists of everyone dancing individually either using steps learnt or just jumping around in true Cuban party style! I struggled with the typical awkwardness of being a musician, what do you do with your body when it isn't occupied with holding an instrument?! I enjoyed the bridge a bit more as it involved finding a partner and dancing in turn through the line of part...

Day 1 of CoLab 2018 complete. I really wasn't sure what to expect this year but it's been a fun and revealing beginning! I assumed Cuban Carnival would just be a band playing Cuban music or something, but to my surprise (and mixed feelings of delight and apprehension) we were fully engaged in learning how to dance a PROPER conga. I didn't realise it was even a real thing with specific movements until today. Cuban percussion - congas! We started off the day with some rhythmic work firstly with our bodies and later using Conga drums, cowbells and Bambo drums. By clapping with a weighted first beat, as if one hand is pressing the other or sticking to it, and adding the stomping of feet, we began to learn how to feel the beat really clearly in our bodies. Subsequently we added singing (in Spanish) and for me, that's where it all went wrong. I did not realise how difficult it would be to clap, stamp and sing different things at the same time! It highlighted to me the n...