Our participation in the recent ABWM Christmas Bazaar was spotted in the Star newspaper:

A young boy trying his hand at Capoeira, the fusion of dance and martial art from Brazil to traditional Brazilian music.

Read the rest here.

In our efforts to provide more to the Bantus community and the surrounding Damansara Jaya community, we are looking to beef up our class schedules at the Bantus Academy in with more classes in 2006. Starting in January of the new year we will be actively seeking qualified instructors in exercise and dance forms complementary to capoeira such as samba, gymnastics, yoga, pilates, salsa, kickboxing and hip hop to join our already vibrant community at Bantus Capoeira!

More details as follows:

• Address of the Academy? Lot 23c, Jalan SS22/23 Damansara Jaya 47400 Petaling Jaya
• Available Time Slots? Mon, Wed, Fri all day til 8pm Tues, Thurs all day til 6pm Weekends available on request
• Interested to Teach at the Bantus Academy? Email Quek or call +(6)012 288 7908.

There will be no classes this week (27th-30th December) as your overworked instructors will be taking a break for the year. Students are still free to come by the academia to train on their own or ask for pointers from any of the seniors present. Watch this space, because although there won’t be a public roda this Saturday (New Year‘s Eve) we will be having the first roda for 2006 really soon.

From all of us here at Bantus, here‘s wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

‘Tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la la la la la… It‘s party time at Bantus!

• When? Friday, 23rd December @ night
• Where? Academia Bantus
• Theme? “What’s that on your head?” or put on a headgear (wig, sombrero, turban, etc)—caps and bandanas don’t count—most creative headgear wins a prize!

For those who would like to join the party, we need:

• MYR 10 per person for drinks (non alcoholic)/snacks and decorations
• Food—Bring a dish (please no chips!)
• Presents worth MYR 5-10/handmade/stolen for gift exchange

Youli needs a few volunteers to help out. Please let her know if you can—Youli (012 233 6778). You may contribute alcohol of your choice. We will make a list and checking it twice to see if you are naughty or nice… Let us know if you can make it.

Marissa has launched her own fashion label—Criola. Her first season designs will be available at the following locations in the Klang Valley througout December:

• Date: Every Sunday Venue: Sunrise Plaza Mont’ Kiara Market (in front of Zakuro at Block C).
• Date: Every Saturday Venue: The Curve Market.
• Date: Everyday Venue: Rhapzody, Ground floor of Bangsar Village.

For more info, contact Marissa.

From this morning’s Star Metro pullout:

Ginga, Mea lua, Armada, Au. These sound like a bunch of gibberish but to children at Mont Kiara International School (MKIS), it means “Let’s play capoeira!”

Read the rest of this article here (Google cache) or pick up a copy of today’s paper.

Planet Capoeira’s website was recently revamped and relaunched. Following that, they’ve also launched a new community blog site called The Roda.

We’ve had some posts that linked to articles on the previous Planet Capoeira’s site so they might be broken now. The editorial team over there suggested that they might restore the old articles once they’ve completed the revamp. Check them out.