Sign up:  Complete the registration form and sign the waiver to participate with G.R.E.S. Samba Mundial, a Mountain View-based Escola de Samba, in San Francisco Carnaval 2008.
The $15 participation fee covers the costs of water and food for parade participants, the float and sound truck, mailings to members, and other production costs.  It includes a Samba Mundial Carnaval 2008 T-shirt.

Come to rehearsals:  SF Carnaval 2008 rehearsals take place Saturday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 pm beginning April 5 at the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula, Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse, 1109 Hilton Street, Redwood City, near Middlefield and Woodside Roads.  [Directions]
From 3:00 to 4:00 pm, dancers and bateria will rehearse separately; from 4:00pm on, both groups will rehearse together.
A $55 rehearsal fee will be charged for the 7-week series leading up to SF Carnaval 2008.
Note that this fee applies to all drummers (except those who qualify for the student discount) and to all dancers doing this year's choreography, regardless of how many Saturday rehearsals you actually attended.  Since you pay for attending rehearsals or for NOT attending them, you might as well attend.  Besides, rehearsals are fun!

Learn choreography/Enredo:  In the best Rio de Janeiro tradition, we create a new theme song or enredo (pronounced “en-hay-doo”), new choreography and new costumes each year!  For dancers, choreographies will be taught and practiced during the Saturday rehearsals, while drummers work on the enredo.
People new to Brazilian dance are encouraged to take our classes held throughout the year at 8:15pm Wednesday for dancers and 7:00pm for drummers.
To attend these classes, you must become a student member of Samba Mundial at an additional cost.  Your first visit is free, so come to the Lower Social Hall at the Mountain View Recreation Center, 201 South Rengstorff Avenue, between Central Expressway and California Street.

Buy/make your costume:  Dancer costumes will be created during the first few weeks of rehearsals.  Final costs are to be determined, but please budget at least $90.  This year's Bateria costume consists of “Samba Whites” (white pants, white socks and white shoes) and this year’s Samba Mundial T-shirt, plus a headpiece.  The headpiece costs $10.

Volunteer:  We need help!  Please volunteer to help with costuming, T-shirt sales, float/sound truck decorations and all the other activities involved in creating our S.F. Carnaval 2008 contingent.  Short meetings will be held at each Saturday rehearsal to plan and coordinate these activities.

Recruit:    Besides dancers and drummers, we need people to act as “parade monitors”, water providers and drivers for the sound truck.  Please ask your friends and relatives to volunteer for these roles.  Carnaval San Francisco provides training for parade monitors.  This is an exciting opportunity!

Sponsor Program:  We also need sponsors:  businesses and nonprofits that support us financially can get publicity on our T-shirts, our Carnaval parade float, and our web site (http://www.sambamundial.org/links).  Samba Mundial is a 501(c)(3) corporation, so donations are tax-deductible.

Parade!  The S.F. Carnaval 2008 parade begins at 10:00am on Sunday, May 25 and should take from two to three hours.  Plan to arrive between 8:00am and 9:00am.  Parking and meeting places will be specified at rehearsals.  We’ll have a stage show and celebration afterward.
To see the two-mile route through the colorful Mission district, and read all about S.F. Carnaval 2008, click on http://www.carnavalsf.com.

Sign up now!  Register to participate with G.R.E.S. Samba Mundial in San Francisco Carnaval 2008!