noni films & media: video production, social media, communications and marketing services on maui

Sneak Peek Clip of the Week: Capoeira Demo at the Jungle to Jungle Fundraiser – Part 1

August 17, 2009 at 6:18 pm 3 comments

Last week, we decided to sponsor and assist a newly launched local nonprofit technology and education organization, and we’re excited to tell you about it. Our good friends and collaborators Amanda Wilson and Jill Pridemore are about to leave for the Amazon River for Jungle to Jungle , a “virtual expedition” program they’ve launched to help bring students of the world together as science and technology explorers.  (There’s more after the jump!)

The Amazon from Space (NASA)

In less than 9 days, Amanda and Jill will travel the length of the Amazon River (from Peru to its mouth in Brazil) as explorers, checking in weekly with students who participate in Kalama Intermediate School’s science club on Maui. Using affordable technology tools such as the Flip Mino HD and blogging software, Jungle to Jungle allows the students to gather information from South America virtually, with Amanda and Jill sending photos, video, and data, and exploring with them several times along the way via video conference. They’ve even arragned a video conference between students in Peru and those at Kalama during the month-long program. Isn’t that awesome?

We think so, so we took the Panasonic DVX-100b to their Brazilian-themed fundraiser event on Saturday night in Makawao, the rustic, upcountry Maui town with about 6,500 residents known for its history and celebration of the paniolo (the Hawaiian term meaning “cowboy”). Hawaiian cowboy meets Brazil’s Carnival by way of the vibrant and creative Maui dance scene. Love it.

The event was incredible.  A great crowd, really happy energy, high attendance, costumes, and lots of dancing. We met with Amanda and Jill and shot two really great interviews about the Jungle To Jungle project and upcoming trip. Those will be edited into a segment for “The Maui Daily”, Akaku‘s weekly current events and community news show that airs on Oceanic Time Warner Channel 54.  We’ll post it here, see Part 2 of this post (coming tomorrow).

The highlight of the fundraiser was a live demonstration of the Afro-brazilian art from known as capoiera. Thanks to the bouncers at Casanova, we were allowed to stand on some furniture to get the shot. We love how it turned out. We hope you enjoy it, unedited in it’s full natural glory. Shout out to Ami for sharing his talents on the saxophone, and in the circle!

Join us tomorrow night for part two of this post. And don’t be afraid to comment!

Entry filed under: Dance Performance, Environmental Issues, Filmmaking, Hawaiian Culture, Media Services, Musical Performance, Social Media. Tags: .