Sunday, January 28, 2018

Philadelphia





A work conference was located in a grim yet soulless Atlantic City during mid-winter. A fiscally cynical choice for a corporate love-in, where even the Trump empire has cashed in its chips. Watching people spend the last of their pension check on a one-armed bandit, from the luxury of their mobility scooter, between chain smoking, is not the most edifying of touristic scenes. Thankfully the global samba family came to my rescue.

When I saw that Philadelphia was en route to AC, the old grey matter jumped into action and reminded me that a sporadic visitor to Wellington, Bobbi, lived there. One cheeky email later and the cultural rescue plan to save my soul was put in place.

Bobbi runs an improv theatre company in Philly and comes to Welly to direct shows at our Fringe Festival. Whilst she's here, she also likes to show off some of her many other talents , especially those of a mean sambista with Wellington Batucada (life counselling and tour guiding also available upon request).



I got the luxurious pleasure of being enthusiastically shown around the city, meeting friends, going to groovy events whilst freezing my arse off in sub zero temperatures. Good food and delicious craft beer paved the way for great conversations and a great session with Unidos da Filadelfia.

These guys ripped through a whole heap of material: Furious samba, mean funk and the best chicken and chips in the northern hemisphere. A massive thanks to Mike and the team for letting me join the practice - and great to meet people and put names to instruments down at the local pub.