I didn't know I was even looking for it, but I'm super glad I found it.
It was a slightly unexpected find as I had presumed my visit to Spain would consist mostly of drum playing with only a smattering of dancing. I was wrong. They were dancing in the streets in Badajoz. Literally.
Badajoz, a city next to the Portuguese border, hosts a wonderful carnival every year that lasts several days. I was lucky enough to be invited to play with Batala, a samba-reggae band that I'm also lucky enough to be a part of.
The carnival engulfs the whole city and everyone in it. You can't walk to the supermercado without bumping into a family of bears or having to skirt past a loitering group of Incredibles - one presumes waiting for disaster to strike in order to spring into superhero action. If you're wearing 'regular' clothes, YOU'RE the oddball. It's brilliant.
But enough talk of costumes; let the dancing begin!
The people of Badajoz love to dance. I love to dance. I guess that's why I spent a lot of my youth making up bedroom dance routines or learning the grapevine for the Scout and Guide Gang Show. And I guess that's why, on some level, I joined Batala.
Yes, we play drums. Yes, we are incredibly good at drumming. But we also like a little movement with our music. I, personally, find it easier to remember the music when I have a dance to go with it. Which is handy as a lot of our songs have dances. Yet when I got to rehearse with the super-band made up of the Badajoz contingent and delegates from Batala bands from around the world, there were MORE dance moves. And heaps of sun-invigorated energy. We were adding extra steps and bending here there and everywhere. There was a dance train and I was running along trying to keep up.
The Badajoz dancing didn't stop at rehearsals either. Party time is always dancing time in Spain, but at these parties, the dancing was a finely tuned, chaotically choreographed affair. Apparently, I missed the best of the dancing on the night before I arrived but the upshot was that there was a dance for every song. The Badajoz band were kind enough to dance the rest of us through the basic moves. So much so, that when certain songs started, there was a cheer and the collective was called into dancing action. Having missed the tutorial night, my favourite was the one where we basically charged around the dance floor like teenagers hyped up on too many Haribo and then let loose in a circle pit. Not the prettiest of dances, but fun.
The Badajoz band had a more civilised dance planned as a surprise for us visitors later in the night. I say civilised, but it's always hard to be civilised when dancing to 'Cotton Eye Joe'. They demonstrated the routine and then urged us to join in. Which we did, with gusto. It's not often you get to line dance amongst farm animals, DC super villains and Frida Kahlo. (A party without costumes isn't allowed during carnival.)
Alongside our recreational dancing, Badajoz is overtaken by the serious business of the main parade on the Sunday with the Desfile de Comparsas. This is when hundreds of people, all dressed in the most elaborate and wonderful costumes, parade through the city, dancing all the way. Each comparsa has a different theme and so a corresponding costume and dance. They are an explosion of colour and material. The time and effort that goes into this is astounding. I'm reliably informed that local comparsas spend the whole year secretly planning what to showcase during the carnival.
The dancing is incredible. There are lines upon lines of people (men, women and children) all dressed immaculately and all doing the same choreographed moves. Incredible is an over-used word, but I completely couldn't work out how, logistically, so many people had learnt the same things and were performing their moves so militarily.
Dancing is a passion and a serious business here. Take a look at some of the comparsas' work here. I loved the Marvel heroes particularly, but if you pick any moment in the video, it will bring a smile to your face. And isn't that why we all dance? That's why I dance - for the joy it brings me and the joy we can spread through dance. Nos encanta bailar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a84xN4Teuc
