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Ken Dalluge arrived in Santa Cruz in 1994 after performing and teaching for the previous 6 years in Paris France. The focus of his teaching efforts here has been to nurture the exploration of the music of Brazil and the Caribbean through weekly workshop rehearsal sessions in his studio. Ensembles are limited in size and number to allow extensive, in-depth study not only of many complicated instrumental arrangements, but also the refined techniques necessary to execute them on a myriad of instruments and the appropriate songs (in Spanish, Portuguese and different African dialects) that accompany them.
The two most advanced groups have been combined to form Batucada Nana, comprised of 13 women and men. Their dedication to this effort has been proven by their regular and faithful attendance for more than four years in private lessons, small groups, and, now, in the extra rehearsals for the batucada.
Probably the most unique aspects of the rehearsal process lie in the fact that we address everything necessary for a musical performance, and that all members are capable of playing all of the instruments used in any given setting (both things fairly unusual for an all-percussion ensemble!). What also sets this group apart from other "student" groups is that an enormous amount of time is spent working on making the music come alive through the active practice of rhythmical improvisation.
Batucada Nana da Santa Cruz is modeled after a Brazilian Batucada. Although escolas da samba (samba schools) in Brazil are often composed of upwards of 2500 members, 10% to 20% of whom are percussionists, one of the smallest groups which can faithfully represent this genre of music is a Batucada made up of 8 to 25 persons.
Depending on the venue selected (indoors or outdoors, for example), material is selected for seamless sets from a repertoire which includes: Samba from the urban areas of southern Brazil, Marakatu and Samba Reggae from northeastern Brazil, Samba Terreiro from the religious houses of Brazil, three-drum orchestrations of the music of Santeria from Cuba, Comparsa Carnaval music from Cuba, and various West African bell ensembles. All of the above are accompanied by appropriate traditional songs in Portuguese, Spanish and different West African dialects. These are sung by the percussionists as they perform... a feat that is rare even in authentic indigenous settings.