Hybrid (Join In-Person or Online)
$12-18
Learn to drum some Brazilian beats with Batalá. This group class will break down the music you've heard Batalá play, step by step. Students will be guided in proper stick technique, body positioning, and performance strategies, and dynamics for playing any of 4 different drums and other percussion instruments. Play the big surdo to bring in that deep base, the repique to send up that clave, or the agogo bell to resonate and inspire. The class will also include light choreography and Afro-Brazilian movement technique--appreciating the drum as an extension of the body. Every class will feature different rhythms, including Samba Reggae, Samba Duro, Samba Mambo, and Samba Afro. This class is for all levels. Instruments provided. All genders are welcome. No prior musical experience necessary.
Batalá New York is an all women, Black-led, Afrocentric drumming ensemble. We understand Afro-Brazilian culture to be the product of Black resistance and promote and collaborate with a network of Afro-Brazilian artists in Bahia, in New York, and around the globe. We are also transforming images of women by presenting a loud, fearless and diverse community of female drummers. We perform all over the New York region in concert halls, at community centers, parks and gardens, on the streets, at protests, and at top cultural institutions.
Batalá New York is part of a global arts project of over thirty bands playing Afro-Brazilian music with percussive instruments and costumes hailing from Salvador de Bahia, in northeast Brazil. The Batalá bands principally play Samba Reggae, a world music that incorporates Brazilian Samba and Caribbean Reggae. The band's music includes rhythms heard throughout the African diaspora and pays homage to traditional Afro-Brazilian music and spirituality. Most of our instruments are worn on the body as we play. Our performances, with colorful costumes and dynamic choreography, are a high energy, joyful percussive experience.
Everton Isidoro was born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He began studying percussion in 1999, and he has completed his Bachelors degree in Percussion at the Federal University of Bahia in 2007. His work has consisted of 9 years as a percussion teacher and musician at Neojibá project, percussion teacher at Espaço Cultural Pierre Verger, musician at Orchestra Afro-Sinfônica, the Orchestra Soteropolifônica, as well as teacher and coordinator of the percussion group Tom de Percussão. He has played with artists such as Maria Bethânia, Ivete Sangalo, Caetano Veloso, Susana Baca, Carlinhos Brown, Mercedes Sosa, Cecília Todd, Ramiro Musotto, and others. Everton has completed many tours with Neojibá in Europe, the US, and South America.
Everton has built his career around his love for the rhythms native to his country, specifically those from Northeastern Brazil. Despite his young age, he is already well respected as both a master player and teacher by musicians worldwide. On his previous U.S visit, Everton presented workshops at Samba New York, Harlem Samba, Play on Philly, and the Philadelphia Orchestra's school partnership program
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