Band Camp in Paradise

After my two week stay in São Paulo I took a plane up to the other end of the country to state of Ceara. I spent almost two weeks in Fortaleza and Jericoacoara at the Choro Jazz Festival. The festival is a production of Capucho Produções and is partnered with California Brazil Camp which is how I knew about the festival. It was fun to see Capucho in charge and running this show instead of lurking around like he does at camp :) This time it was Dennis the Brazil Camp director who got to be the lurker. Just kidding! But seriously, I was so impressed with the whole operation. Three days in Fortaleza plus six days in Jericoacoara with workshops during the day and concerts at night, all with world class musicians. And all FREE thanks to government and corporate sponsorship. Fortaleza was a good chance to get in the swing of things and check out some of the workshops and concerts. But the real adventure started when four of us hopped in a hired pickup truck scheduled to drive us almost 200 miles to Jericoacoara. We stopped in Jicoca so the driver could let some air out of the tires. Then the last hour was a bumpy ride spent driving on sand, along the beach, past giant dunes, and into this beautiful beach town with sand instead of pavement.

The town has four main streets and a population of 3,000 (4,000 if you include tourists, and a lot more if you include the donkeys and cows everywhere that walked me to class). The sand was a challenge to walk on, but it was a constant reminder for me to slow down and stop rushing everywhere since I physically couldn't rush. Capucho had posted a class schedule online but with no locations at all. People kept asking each other where to go but nobody knew. Like so many things here that just seem to work themselves out, I figured the class locations would present themselves at the right time. And by word of mouth and a lot of directions given by local shop-owners, we all found our way. I spent a lot of time in inspiring workshops with Gabrielle Mirabasi, Teco Cardoso, Arismar do Espirito Santos, and Mauricio Carrilho. Then unexpectedly at the end of the week we were told we'd be performing on stage before the shows that night! Gabrielle Mirabassi and Alexandre Ribeiro flanked me on stage and there was such a great energy playing and dancing around all three of us together. What an honor.

Alexandre led a roda de choro every evening and a full on jam session every night late after the shows. I played in the rodas and made good use of the choros I've been memorizing. The jam was a bigger challenge for me - trying to navigate when to sit in, when to take a turn, when to call a tune, etc. Alexandre saw me at the bar and asked me why I wasn't playing more. When I started whining about how I didn't really know what to do, I didn't know that particular song they were playing, my dog ate my homework, etc etc, he literally pushed me into the circle and told me to play. I was glad for the kick in the butt and really appreciate his support and mentorship.

And then another chapter of my trip had passed and I hopped on another plane to another paradise. Not before a grueling ride back to Fortaleza. This time instead of the private truck I took a bus. That first trip back over the sand felt like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, but in a seatbeltless rickety metal bus for an hour. This trip has been bumpy but this place teaches you to roll with the punches. I am constantly reminded of a quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I watched on the plane. Judy Dench talks about adjusting to a new environment in India: "Initially you're overwhelmed. But gradually you realize it's like a wave. Resist, and you'll be knocked over. Dive into it, and you'll swim out the other side."

Thoughts from Camp

Every August for the last five years I have traveled to a special place up in the redwoods for one or two blissful, exciting, relaxing, challenging, scary, inspiring, cell phone-free, gourmet food-fueled, love-filled weeks at California Brazil Camp.  This is not a comprehensive summary, but just a couple of stories about some of my favorite parts.

Brazilian music and culture have become such an important part of my life that the majority of my time and energy is spent studying the music, learning the language, making time to go to camp every year, and saving money to travel to Brazil.  Imagine then getting to spend two weeks with a group of people who feel so strongly about that very same music and culture, that they have the exact same priorities.  These people, most of whom I only see once a year plus on facebook, have become family.  When I rolled into camp I was greeted by a few of them with "welcome home."  I receive more smiles and hugs walking around that place in one morning than I receive in a month elsewhere.  That strong sense of community creates an atmosphere of positivity and encouragement at camp.  I constantly hear people complimenting each other and allowing themselves to receive compliments in return.  That atmosphere gives me confidence to express myself and take risks without the fear of making a mistake.  It's a great environment for self-improvement and self-empowerment.

My attempts at pacing myself at camp are futile against the all-night jams and early morning yoga.  There is this moment of clarity that comes when I am utterly exhausted.  It’s the point past the breaking point where I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle.  I’m running on fumes and my brain is over capacity having been memorizing complex rhythms, dance choreography, chord changes, and new friends’ names.  I am overwhelmed with inspiration, energy, adrenaline, and love, but I’m physically and mentally exhausted.  The overwhelm transforms into a kind of meditation where I’m only able to be in the current moment.  In Derek’s Self-Breema class he always emphasizes “single moment, single activity.”  It’s there, in that moment, that my brain shuts off and my body takes over.  I rely on intuition and muscle memory.  I can let go and dance and dance and dance.  And everything inside me breaks apart and leaves me open to listen and receive: receive inspiration, answers, blessings, messages, ideas.  It’s that moment when I push past that I am reduced to my pure self.  All I need to do is create the space to allow myself to hear.


I’m still very much in a place of uncertainty regarding my life and its direction.  What better spiritual place to contemplate my life than in the middle of 2,000 year old redwood trees?  Mestre Nininho shared a lot about the spiritual energy he felt up there, and that the trees contained the spiritual energy of our past selves.  Also with me for the trip was my necklace of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of destruction, creation, and change, who I felt was also appropriate for this chapter of my life full of major endings and beginnings.  One night I dropped her through the slats in the floor of our tent structure.  After I lost a series of coat hangers down there, Brian said the only way I'd get it back was to get under there.  I crawled through dirt and spiders (!) to retrieve her which felt terrifying but also somehow symbolic.  Also symbolic was in Mark's Bata Ketu class when he taught a rhythm for Olokun.  Olokun is the orixa of the mystery at the bottom of the ocean and in ourselves, which served as powerful imagery for me.  So much is a mystery right now.  While I didn’t return from camp with it all figured out, I am filled with inspiration and ideas.  The loudest message I kept hearing over and over again is that I’m where I’m meant to be and I’m on the right path.  What a comfort in a time of uncertainty to feel at peace with the unknown.

The best advice I received at camp was from Greg when I asked him how he manages to do so many things in his life and do them well.  He said "do what you love and do it a lot."  What a perfect sentiment to summarize not only the Brazil Camp experience but how to take it home with us throughout the year.  So that's what I will keep doing, do what I love and let it guide me to the next step.  And keep creating space so I can keep listening.