On Saturday 16 July 2011, we celebrated Bantus’ 6th year in Singapore by throwing a party. This year, my plan was to showcase the talent (hidden or otherwise) of some of our capoeiristas. And here are some hits and misses (on organising parties) as well as hidden surprises from this year’s bash:
Number 1: never order more than ten pizzas. Even when there are 50 people at your party. In the end, we had to sweet-talk some folks to bring a pizza home. Er, a handful had declined as they didn’t want to be mistaken for pizza delivery boys or gals on the train back.
Number 2: never believe anyone who tell you they eat veggies. They probably eat like three lettuce leaves and just a cherry tomato or two. That’s about it. So one salad will suffice even if there are vegetarians lurking amongst your guests. Just direct them to the bar where they can get their fill of liquid grain (or fruit juice).
Number 3: always involve the Foreign Legion. In our case, the French dudes in our capoeira group, Bambu, Besouro and Galego, shared their love for all things alcoholic with us as they zealously served up caipirinhas in their makeshift bar and drank as much as their guests. Great job, Legionnaires! For the record, Sol, our bartender for the evening, tried to apologise for getting everyone drunk with his volka shots and volka watermelon. Also for the record, we thought he outdid himself in leading by example. 
Number 4: making your guests wait in suspense while your set-up crew cleans and puts up decor in record time is part of the stress before the fun. Why we were all late was probably due to traffic and other unforeseen circumstances. But let me thank Boneco do Posto for actually showing up punctually and also everyone else who swept, mopped and flipped the mats as part of their mini-circuit training to spruce up the academy. 
BIG THANK U’s to Mutante, Curio, Careca, Lampiao, Boteco, Boneco do Posto (again), Joevenn, Evelyn, Rufus, Sombra and if I left out your name here by mistake, it’s due to my poor memory. Please accept my apologies and feel free to acknowledge yourself under comments!
Number 5: it’s a good idea to tag people with colored ribbon and stamp their wrists (like the clubs do). Makes them wonder why they are being tagged for one thing (it’s for party games later) 
and I like how folks ooh and aah when they realise they’re being stamped with a Decepticon (Shockwave) chop.
Number 6: dudes dig poles. And pole dancing. Yup, they can even show you how it’s done. 
My favorite poledancers for the evening were Boteco (‘coz he actually did a pole move!), Goma (who enjoyed molesting his ticklish human pole) and Cicak-man (who eyed the pole the way dogs would when they attempt to shag a human leg). Galego, one thousand brownie points goes to you for your brilliant idea of a penalty imposed on the losing team! And a million brownie points to our human poles and sporting pole humpers!
Number 7: our gals can sing. 
Of course they can. So apart from singing during the capoeira roda, Amee and Mastura did a kickass job of wowing everyone with their renditions of Someone Like You (Adele) and Man Down (Rihanna). 
Seriously, at the way Mas was going, her chair was gonna be rocked to pieces and I thought she might as well get up and dance.
Number 8: our boyz can dance. It’s official. Only two rehearsals and they got the choreography down to a pat. Claudinho has christened our male revue the Bantus Chippendales. Hahaha. He will probably lead the troupe in future gigs.;-)
Another surprise treat for everyone was having Bambu, Careca and Claudinho swishing their hips, shaking their booties and sashaying around with feather boas. (Sorry, I got no pix of this marvellous act. Did anyone take any pix? Hehe)
Number 9: So you think you can dance? Well, like all couple dances, forró only works if the guys lead and the gals follow. 
Too bad for the guys who can’t lead and the gals who can’t follow…
So you think you can’t dance? You should have stayed on to watch Besouro’s steamy lambada with Cindy. And pick up a tip or two. The remaining handful of staunch drinkers were still holding out pretty well on the dance floor. Thanks to Galego’s clubbing playlist and Sol’s volka watermelon.
Number 10: Inebriated folks should not try to do math puzzles (like fitting the rubber mats back on the floor) 
or attempt housekeeping feats. Claudinho will head the set-up crew before the next class when everyone’s sober again to fit the mats back. Enjoy your workout before the class.;-)
Postscript: And you know you are the last man standing if you’re completely smashed and can still have a little game of angola while waiting for a cab.
Thanks everyone, for the memories of another good party! You were all great fun to be with. Hope you all had fun too!
This is The Republic Cultural Centre. Here is the entrance. We’ll all meet at Studio 1 which is at ground level. There’ll be enough of us hanging around to ask for directions. So no worries!