Second City Samba

Brazilian Samba Music and Dance in Chicago

Second City Samba

EEDS Carnaval Percussion Classes start February 4 in CHICAGO!

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Samba fans, EEDS is coming to Chicago! Join us for our next class session, beginning Wednesday, February 4th, as we begin our new residency partnership with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center. In this intensive 8-week session, students will learn Rio-style percussion techniques and patterns in preparation for our major Carnaval show on March 28th, which will feature Master Drummer and Percussionist Jorge Alabê.

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CARNAVAL PERCUSSION (8 weeks)

Dates: Wednesdays February 4th to March 25th
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Location: Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 4046 W Armitage, Chicago
Instructor: Reed Flygt
If you have any questions about these classes contact Reed Flygt (reedflygt@gmail.com).
Registration Fees:
$85 for 8 weeks (payable by check or cash on the first day of the session), or pay-as-you-go for $12 per class. Pay by credit card on our Paypal Donation Page.

EEDS’ New Residency for 2015

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Greetings and Happy New Year to All!

We want to start the year off with some good news: Evanston Escola De Samba is excited to announce that we will begin our residency at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC) in February. SRBCC is cultural arts organization located in Chicago’s Hermosa Neighborhood (at 4046 W Armitage), dedicated to preserving and promoting appreciation of the culture and arts of Puerto Rico. You may remember that EEDS hosted a successful Carnaval event at SRBCC last March. We plan on hosting another Carnaval event this year – so stay tuned for more details on Carnaval 2015.

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We are excited to continue our partnership with SRBCC and enhance the mission of EEDS by offering more classes, hosting cultural events, and expanding our programming. We aim to achieve a greater impact in the community by promoting cultural arts, music and dance opportunities for all. Stay tuned for our February class schedule and more exciting things to come!

Support EEDS in 2015!

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Happy2015

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

As you know, the Evanston Escola de Samba (EEDS) is a volunteer run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to teach, perform, and promote Brazilian music and dance as a vehicle for arts education and community engagement in Chicagoland.  For over 10 years, EEDS has provided classes, workshops and performances to the Chicagoland community, working with schools, nonprofit organizations, and communities to promote the love of Brazilian music and culture and bringing people of various backgrounds together.  This past year EEDS had some great highlights, including:

  • Hosting our first ever Carnaval Event in March funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign
  • Winning the Chief Judge’s Award for Special Merit in the Evanston 4th of July Parade
  • Workshops with Philip Galinsky of Samba! New York, and San Francisco percussionist Jimmy Biala
  • Running many school performances and classes with over 1,000 participants, including Dawes Elementary in Evanston, the Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival, and Shared Streets in Evanston

EEDS also built a new partnership with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC). Together, EEDS and SRBCC hope to promote not only Brazilian music and culture, but to advance the mission of community organizations working to provide quality music and dance educational opportunities for all.

As we plan for 2015 we need your support more than ever! EEDS relies on support from individuals like you who value arts education, and opportunities to provide culturally rich programming to those who are unable to afford classes. With your support, we will continue to be able to provide scholarships, discounted class fees, and workshops. This will ensure that all members of the community that wish to participate in our programs are able to do so. In 2015, we also hope to move into our own class, practice and performance space, which will allow us to better serve the community. Building from our strengths in 2014, we hope to have great success next year and need your support to make it happen.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to EEDS to help us further our mission through outreach, performance and engaging the Chicagoland community through Brazilian music and dance.

You can also send a check, payable to Evanston Escola de Samba, at the address below.

Evanston Escola de Samba
P.O. Box 5108
Evanston, IL 60204

Thank you very much for your continued support and we hope to see you in 2015!

Videos for Class on Wednesday, December 10

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Hello Sambistas! A reminder that we are in fact having class on Wednesday – EEDS Percussion Instructor Peter Korajczyk will be leading the bateria as we continue to learn repertoire for CARNAVAL 2015!

Check out these video below, featuring Marcus Santos and Monobloco, for some models and inspiration as we move forward with our new material. See you all Wednesday!

Marcus Santos in Chicago this weekend

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The Friday workshop will be at Quilombo and will cost $25 – there will also be a party on Saturday, December 6th at 8:30 PM at the same location (1757 N. Kimball) featuring Marcus Santos, Renato Anesi and more! You can find more info on the Facebook Event Page.

turnthebeataround's avatarturnthebeataround

hey!  you are welcome to come check out this guy!  public workshop friday (dec. 5th) from 7-9 pm @ 1757 n. kimball ave.  let me know if you are interested.  $25.  concert and show saturday night at the same place starting at 8

percussion!  get the money in!!

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Happy Giving Tuesday!

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GTWeb-Banner5You know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but what about Giving Tuesday? Today, Tuesday, December 2nd is officially the day of giving back to non-profit organizations, who do so much for the community with limited resources. In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, consider making a tax-deductible contribution to EEDS or another non-profit organization you support today! We appreciate your support in bringing our message of dance and music to Chicagoland!

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EEDS Fall 2014 (Session 2) Percussion Class Schedule

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Hey EEDS friends and family – our second session of Fall 2014 percussion classes is up: Register here ! We have percussion classes for both beginners and more advanced students. You can sign up for an entire session, or just drop in for a class or two. All instruments provided!

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BEGINNER BATERIA (8 weeks) [Register here]

Dates: Wednesdays October 22nd to December 17th
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove Street, Skydeck South Room, 2nd Floor, Evanston
Instructor: Reed Flygt
Description: This class introduces to Brazilian percussion styles through focused lessons on the tamborim and the surdo. It is appropriate for students just beginning with Brazilian percussion, as well as advanced students wanting to refine their skills on certain instruments.

ADVANCED PERFORMANCE BATERIA (8 weeks) [Register here]

Dates: Wednesdays, October 22nd to December 17th
Time: 7:00 – 8:20 pm
Location: McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove Street, Skydeck South Room, 2nd Floor, Evanston
Instructor: Reed Flygt
Description: (Ages 16+) This class brings together all the instruments in a full Brazilian bateria, with a focus on advanced playing techniques, new rhythms, and refining the coordination between all of the instruments. Previous experience with Brazilian percussion is required, and this class is open to students who have already completed the “Beginner Bateria” class, or have participated in EEDS Performance Bateria previously.
If you have any questions about these classes contact Reed Flygt (reedflygt@gmail.com).
Registration Fees:
$85 for 8 Weeks
or $12 per class (includes BOTH intro and advanced classes)**PLEASE NOTE: NO CLASS on Wed. November 26th**

Dance Classes
Fall session dance classes will be announced soon!

Photos from Jimmy Biala’s Workshop

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1001142059So many thanks to San Francisco percussionist extraordinaire Jimmy Biala for hosting a high-energy workshop at EEDS last week. Jimmy spent some great time refining our playing techniques, and then taught us some sick new breaks to work into our batucada repertoire. We will be integrating some of them into our 2015 Carnaval performance in March. Tamborim choreography, anyone?

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Thanks again to Jimmy for making the trip out – and check the EEDS Facebook Page tomorrow for a video of us in action during the workshop!1001142109a

Jimmy Biala Percussion Workshop on Wednesday (10/1) and More!

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Jimmy

Join EEDS for a workshop with San Francisco percussionist extraordinaire Jimmy Biala. Jimmy joined us for our 4th of July parade and are happy to have him join us again. We are going to learn some new rhythms and will also be perfecting our bateria techniques. Instruments will be provided, but you’re welcome to bring your own as well. Invite your friends!

You don’t have to be enrolled in the current EEDS class session to join the workshop. Regular class is cancelled for this week, but we will be having a make-up session at our normal time on Wednesday, 10/8.

When: Wednesday, October 1st, 7-9pm, Please RSVP on our Facebook Event page!
Where: McGaw YMCA Skydeck (1000 Grove St, Evanston, IL)
Cost: $15
Ages: 16+

Dill Costa to present her original song in Rio de Janeiro

In other important news: EEDS’ head of dance, Dill Costa, will be heading to Rio in October to represent her original song in a competition for the official 2015 samba enredo (Carnaval song) for Mocidade Independente! Help her get there by contributing to her Gofundme site, and listen to her song below:

September Events Recap

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September has been a busy month for EEDS, this week we hosted a special teacher, Derek Wright from Los Angeles. Derek taught the bateria some Maracatu, from the Northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, and an Afoxé rhythm (secular music based on sacred Candomblé rhythms from northeastern Brazil). It was a lot of fun – and big thanks to Derek for helping add some new patterns and styles to our repertoire!
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 Earlier in the month, we performed an outdoor samba concert and parade at Evanston Streets Alive, an outdoor block party that took over Main street. It was a lot of fun to parade for a crowd, and we think the crowd enjoyed themselves, too. We have some more notable events on the horizon including a percussion workshop with Jimmy Biala on Wednesday, October 1st. You can find more information on our Facebook event page – look forward to seeing you there.
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