A Rhythm of our Own

A Rhythm of our Own

Five weeks in Salvador began with a bang-- Didá, an all-female percussion band, filled the room with pounding rhythms as they opened the celebration for V@rekai’s 10th Anniversary. A few days later, six of us trekked down to Salvador’s historic center, Pelourinho, to learn for ourselves.


When I set up the class, they didn’t ask if we had experience with percussion or even music-- the only stipulation was, “girls only.”  For five short weeks, we strapped the drums to our hips, and pounded out the rhythms of samba, swing, meringue, and samba reggae.

Didá was created in 1993 by Maestro Neguinho do Samba, an experienced veteran of the Salvador band Olodum, (known for working with Michael Jackson in the music video, They Don’t Really Care About Us), who wanted to bring the power of percussion to women.  Here we are-- V@rekai’s own banda feminina!