Samba!

Every June in Kraków there is a Dragon Parade on the river. Imagine the 4th of July parade in NY, but instead of an inflatable Trump there are huge dragons and lasers, and it all takes place at night on river barges. You get the idea. The day after the river show, the parade goes through the old town and is accompanied by samba dancers and a colourful crowd.

Some time in May last year my friend Rafał, who is friends with the samba school performing at the parade, asked me if I wanted to join him and photograph a samba workshop held ahead of the parade at the Groteska puppet theatre.

Of course I agreed without much thinking. The workshop was to be held at the main stage of the theatre, and I couldn’t wait to get these backstage shots of dancers, and rehearsals, and the general vibe, not to mention the nooks and crannies of the venue itself. I had everything sorted in my mind already.

On the day of the workshop, my high hopes and expectations were shattered in a split second. Somehow it didn’t occur to me that a samba workshop will be about people with drums and not dancers in shimmering outfits. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that.

On arrival, I was welcomed by the roar of drums. They could be heard from across the street. Of course, me thinking this was a dancing workshop and coming unprepared, the first thing I did was to turn back, leave, and look for the nearest pharmacy to buy earplugs. Once I got them, I returned to the theatre just to discover that the workshop was moved from the main stage (due to some misunderstanding with the janitor) and was being improvised instead in a small room that was effectively a storage place for all the stage design items, spare chairs and tables, etc. The sound level was literally hazardous. There were about thirty people crammed in the room, banging on drums and other percussive instruments, conducted by a guy with a whistle. The guy was Gabriel Lopes from Brasil, who I hear is a name in the samba business.

Anyways, I quickly discovered that the entire situation was nigh-impossible to photograph. I literally could not get inside the room, not to mention walking around and chasing interesting frames. After the first panic attack, I got my shit together and started thinking about my options. People with drums standing in a circle were potentially a single shot. Hardly a reportage. Luckily, there was a lunch break scheduled, so I hoped to get some shots during that, and once it ended, I took a strategic position on the other side of the room, to get a different perspective for maybe one more drumming shot. It all kind of worked out in the end.

All in all, I am quite happy with the few shots I got, but it was a hard way to learn that I should research my options and, if possible, scout the location of a shoot, or otherwise I may be faced with reality I did not expect.

Till the next one!

Jakub