Samba band drums up interest in Notting Hill Carnival debut

Published on Tuesday 5 January 2010 08:44

THEY have already taken their samba beats to community events across Edinburgh.

Now youth band Pulse of the Place are setting their sights on one of the biggest events in the world – Notting Hill Carnival.

The Leith drumming band aim to prove they can cut it with the giants of the samba world.

They plan to recruit around 200 primary school children to join them when they take part in their biggest parade yet.

The new recruits – which they hope to find in local primary schools in Leith via a series of workshops – will join the 40-strong band as dancers for Pulse of the Place's debut at Notting Hill.

The band, based at the Duncan Place Resource Centre in Leith, formed in 1998, but really got going three years ago when a trio of youngsters took the reigns and made it a band for young people, run by young people, with members aged from seven to 19.

The idea is to integrate youngsters from all walks of life and improvise routines from samba rhythms they have learned.

As well as Leith events, the band have recently performed at such prestigious events as the Liverpool Lord Mayor's Parade and the Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade, but believe Notting Hall will transform Pulse of the Place into something completely new.

Founding member Sarah Seilman, who lives in Tranent, starting drumming while she was in P3 at Royal Mile Primary.

She said: "Before we became youth led, we only had six members but I always wanted a really big samba band. I think it will be an amazing experience playing at Notting Hill. We went down in the summer to check it out and we were absolutely blown away.

"We saw samba bands with 200 people with lots of music and dancing and that's what we want to do. Being part of the Notting Hill Carnival is something we never thought we could do but now it's on the horizon."

Sarah's father Rohan Seilman, community learning and development worker at Duncan Place,

said: "We seem to be in demand now and seem to be getting a name for ourselves.

"Although we have quite a big samba band, with 40 people, we will have to look at ways of making it bigger for Notting Hill.

"If we're successful in Notting Hill, the next place we have to look is Rio. It might sound like pie in the sky but at the same time, we have to think big and you can't get any bigger than that."

IT'S A THUMPING GOOD ACT

In the past two years the band have played at:

&#149 Fanfare Concert, Festival Theatre

&#149 The Standard Life Awards, The Hub

&#149 The Leith Pageant

&#149 The Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade

&#149 Mela Gala Dinner

&#149 The Mela Festival, Pilrig Park and Ocean Terminal

&#149 Mela Cricket, Leith Academy

&#149 The Young Edinburgh Awards, Omni

&#149 Young Scot Sounds Right, Corn Exchange

&#149 Street busk - Gretna Green, Ocean Terminal, Liverpool and Blackpool

&#149 Gude Cause Parade

&#149 May Day Parade, Princes Street

&#149 Schools – Prospect Bank, Hermitage Park Primary, Leith Walk Primary, Lorne Primary, St Mary's (Leith), Leith Primary, St Aidans (Carlisle), Oxgangs Primary and James Gilliespie's

&#149 Hunter Hall Fayre

&#149 Sport Relief, Princes Street Gardens

&#149 Liverpool Samba Carnival

&#149 Liverpool Lord Mayor's Parade