CLIENTS:
What do you actually offer?
WASAMBA is keen to take on all kinds of challenges. We've worked with professional dancers to produce a carnaval-themed floorshow for a charity ball, we've taught kids and dads how to drum at country shows, we've invigorated street parades all over the state, we've provided the soundtrack to spontaneous end of night parties, we've even drummed on the back of a moving cray boat!
So our shows are customisable, and we can help you achieve whatever vision you have for your event. In rough terms, our performances fall into three categories:
1. THE ROVING SHOW
Where WASAMBA drums and dances its way through a venue. This is a great way to bring the spirit of carnaval to an audience that might be dispersed across a big area or wide range of activities (such as at a fair, a sports arena or a market-day). People love to look up from their hot-dogs or cocktails to find that twenty sequinned drummers have erupted from nowhere! Kids enjoy WASAMBA's roving shows because they can tag along at the back, Pied Piper style, and feel like they're part of a crazy circus pageant.
One form of roving show is the organised parade, which might feature community floats and follow a set route through the streets. WASAMBA are big and bold and automatically give any community parade a boost. It works well to have us as the final float; that way we can drum on the spot for the people who feel like spontaneously dancing where the parade route terminates. (You'd be surprised at how often this happens!)
Roving shows are usually the longest in duration because the audience is constantly changing. Gigs might go for 30 minutes or 1 hour depending on the size of the venue!
2. A STATIC SHOW
Where WASAMBA performs in a particular part of a venue. This is a great way to make the most of a stage or a professional AV set-up you might have hired - our sequins look dazzling under lights, and our dancers love to work the length and breadth of a stage! A static show is also an effective way of bringing the samba phenomenon to a seated crowd or to a venue with limited space—for example, to a concert audience, clubroom, cocktail party or ballroom. When an audience is centralised and we have their complete attention, our Musical Director can get them chanting and stamping as part of a frantic game of call-and-response! (“Let me hear you say…”)
Static shows usually go for 20 – 45 minutes.
3. A WORKSHOP
Where WASAMBA introduce the community to the joy of percussion. These workshops are led by our Musical Director with the assistance of a number of WASAMBA members. They can take place out- or indoors and are equally accessible to grandmas, dads, toddlers and teens. We provide all the equipment and will even help round-up participants if the crowd is looking nervous! Each person chooses an instrument—drum, go-go bell, shaker, wobbleboard or tamborin—and quickly learns a simple but hot-sounding rhythm. Then we lead our fledgling percussionists on a real-live parade around the venue! It is impossible to describe how exhilarating and empowering this experience is. The smiles on the faces of participants at the end of a workshop say more than this blurb can. Watch out: drummers experience extreme joie de vivre!
Workshops last for about 45 minutes.
WASAMBA members are also available to conduct longer, customised drumming workshops in both Perth and regional areas (for example, in schools or as part of corporate team-building days.)
Who else has hired you?
The group has been extremely popular with event organisers who know we can be guaranteed to inject festivals, fairs and fiestas with the energy of carnaval. To see what gigs we have done and what we are booked to do in the future please go to our gigs section or see our testimonials section from organisers from previous completed shows
Why not come down and check out a performance for yourself? Speak to one of the drummers after the show and they’ll point you in the direction of our PR Officers or musical director, who can discuss any ideas you might have had about a prospective Wasamba performance.
How much is it going to cost?
The WASAMBA troupe typically comprises a Musical Director and a team of 20 to 30 drummers, dancers, tamborin-players, shakers, wobbleboarders, and go-go bell players, decked out in professional colour-coordinated attire, and if it's night time, in coloured lights. We understand that you might think the cost of hiring us for your event would be prohibitive!! But because we are a community group - that is, because most troupe members don't get paid, and all profits are used for the purchase and maintenance of instruments (all those broken drumsticks!!) - our prices are actually very affordable.
To get an idea of the fee involved and discuss the vision you have for the event, please contact one of our very approachable PR or Booking Officers: CONTACTS
Sometimes Wasamba performs at heavily-discounted rates for charitable organisations if enough troupe-members are available. Please contact Lee, our Booking Officer, to make suggestions about these types of performances.