Name: Samba Parade 2025 Drum Class
Start: 2025-08-31T12:30:00-07:00
End: 2025-08-31T14:30:00-07:00
Location: Humboldt Light Opera Company (HLOC)

Samba da Alegria and Samba do Mar Humboldt invite all community members to participate in the 39th North Country Fair Parade season! Never drummed or performed before? No problem! We will build your skills and confidence! Not sure about performing but still interested? Come take the classes. Performance is not mandatory. All levels of experience are welcome!
What is provided:
* Drums
* Instruction to build skills at ALL levels
* Parade music arrangement
* Music training including building confidence
* Community building through music

Class Dates: Sundays, July 13 – September 14
Time: 12:30 – 2:30 PM
Location: HLOC The Space, 92 Sunnybrae Center, Arcata
Drop-In Price: $15 - $20
Session Price: $135
Scholarships Available (no one will be turned away for lack of funds).
Pre-registration is not required
Class Info Contact: [email protected]
Parade Date & Time: Sunday, September 21, 1-2 PM (Call Time TBA)

*** Parade E-Registration and Costume Information will be made available on Saturday, July 20. Registration and Costume Fees will be due no later than Thursday, August 1. ***
This year the Drummer Ala (Section) will be focusing on Afro-Brazilian rhythms. Gathering inspiration from the Blocos Afro of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Samba Parade 2025 Theme, Background & Inspiration
Gathering inspiration from the Blocos Afro of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, the 2025 Samba Parade arrangement and choreography will be based in Afro-Brazilian music and dance. Playing in the style of Samba Reggae, created by Olodum as well as Ijexá, a traditional Candomblé rhythm.
Olodum, one of the longest standing Blocos Afro, is named after Olodumare, a supreme deity in the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé, who created the universe and is an ultimate source of power. Candomblé is a religion created by enslaved Africans who were brought to Brazil and is a mixture of traditional Yoruba, Fon and Bantu beliefs from different regions of Africa.
Blocos Afro are neighborhood-based communities in Bahia that encourage cultural activities that are rooted in political and social activism, encouraging race consciousness and the preservation of African history. By bringing music, dance, race, religion and language together, Blocos Afro create expressions of resistance to combat racial, gender and economic injustices. They also serve their community members through promoting racial awareness, self-esteem, education, and general wellness of the neighborhood. Uplifting their communities, especially in times of hardship.
With extreme challenges and uncertainty in our local community and beyond, we must come together, find our strength, invoke our higher selves and rise up for a better future. Creating North Country Fair 2025 “STILL WE RISE”, we challenge our community to be brave and powerful enough to reach the stars.

References:
History of Candomblé. (2009, September 15). BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/candomble/history/history.shtml#:~:text=It%20was%20born%20of%20a,Brazil%20during%20the%20slave%20trade.&text=The%20religion%20is%20a%20mixture,the%20Catholic%20faith%20over%20time.
Fogo Azul website, Samba Reggae History: https://fogoazulnyc.com/samba-reggae-history/

About the Instructor:
Neil Bost has been the musical director of Samba da Alegria for nearly a decade, during which he has arranged and directed eight North Country Fair Samba Parades. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance and Education from Cal Poly Humboldt and has studied with master Brazilian teachers Marcio Peeter of Ilê Aiyê, Mestre Memeu of Olodum, Mestre Jorge Alabé, Dudu Fuentes and Mestre Ailton Nunes, former batería director of the Rio de Janeiro Samba School, G.R.E.S. Estação Primeira de Mangueira, among others. Neil has travelled to Brazil and performed with bloco Vagalume o Verde during Rio Carnaval. He is a former band member of Steel Standing, SambAmore, The Eureka Symphony and the Cal Poly Humboldt Calypso Band, and he currently leads Samba Floresta, a Brazilian music cover band based in Arcata.