Category: Uncategorized

At Finca Ara Oko, food isn’t just nourishment; it’s an experience. Our meals are lovingly crafted by a local Italian chef who brings a masterful touch to each dish. Every meal showcases the best of Spain’s seasonal, organic produce sourced from nearby farms to bring you vibrant flavours that honour the land and the seasons.

From handpicked vegetables and sun-ripened fruits to fresh herbs and locally pressed olive oils, each ingredient is carefully selected for its quality and taste. Our chef combines these with the warmth and authenticity of local cuisine, creating meals that are as delicious as they are nourishing.

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Here is a chart giving a guideline of musical skills our students can expect to gain from attending our courses and workshops when combined with home study.

Level 1
Drum Technique	Hand positions on various drums. Basic drum sounds – open and bass. Playing and understanding of 1 or 2 clave patterns with the pulse.
Drumming Styles	Afro-Cuban Folkloric percussion -An understanding of simple polyrhythmic drum parts for rumba, batá and makuta with one variation. Salsa Percussion –  An understanding of simple polyrhythmic drum parts for son, chachacha and salsa.
Context	A basic understanding of how drum patterns enter and fit with associated songs.

 

Level 2
Drum Technique	All sounds – slap, open, bass, fingers and muffled. A deeper awareness of different clave patterns as a rhythmic structure and how drum rhythms interlock.
Drumming Styles	Afro-Cuban Percussion – A more complex understanding of rumba – yambú, guaguancó and columbia including some variations. The ability to play more complex batá toques including conversations and variations on okónkolo and itótele. An understanding of other styles such as palo and güiro. Salsa Percussion – A more complex understanding of charanga, son and salsa and their variations techniques and ensemble context.
Context	A larger repertoire of songs including some simultaneous singing and playing.

 

Level 3
Drum Technique	Clarity of sound and fluency of technique (i.e. effortless movement between tones at speed).
Drumming Styles	Being able to understand and remember drum parts and how they interconnect. Playing rumba with fluency and at higher tempos. An understanding of some quinto phrasing. Learning and remembering complex batá toques on all 3 drums. Appropriate drum language for songs. A more complete level of playing in other styles – palo, guiro etc, including lead drum phrasing.
Context	A wider repertoire of song sequences and their contexts. Simultaneous singing and playing.

 

17th – 24th July 2023

FULL

We are very excited to welcome the legendary Luanda Pau to Finca Ara Oko this year.  Luanda will teach oricha and rumba dance over five days which we hope will result in a local performance. Each day will explore different dance styles, techniques, rhythms and songs, including an introduction to learning basic drumming and singing with David Pattman and Vicky Jassey, which underpin these dance styles.

We use the word retreat to mean that as well as learning and developing, you also get a chance to relax in nature and the beautiful surroundings. We are expecting a possible excursion to Granada and to present a small performance at our local live events venue.

There are 3 places left; two glamping and one single room; book your place now by paying a non-refundable deposit.

Costs & Accommodation
Included in the price are 7 nights accommodation, three meals a day and 5 days x  5 hours of tuition. (Please see below for costs not included).

Single Room: £830 all-inclusive (£150 deposit. Full payment by 17th June)

Shared Room: £690 all-inclusive (£150 deposit. Full payment by 17th June)

Let us know if you would like to arrange to pay in instalments. Scroll down to see how to book your place.

 

Glamping: £520 all-inclusive. (£150 deposit. Full payment by 17th June)

2 x 4m bell tents with 2 people per tent. (Please note; the photo is from the company that has made our bell tents)

How to book

Step 1: Secure your place by making a non-refundable deposit of £150. (payment details below)

Step 2: Fill out the registration form: Retreat Registration Form

Step 3: Email the completed form to us at: enquiries@fincaaraoko.com

Step 4: Pay the outstanding balance by the date listed directly to the bank details below.

Please check we have spaces and read our Cancellation and Participation Guide before booking.

Bank Details
Account name: Bombo Arts
Account number: 63017399
Sort code: 08-92-99
Reference: (Your initials/ name of course)

If you prefer Paypal, use the link below, but please note we charge a 3.5% bank charge fee.

PayPal Deposit – Luanda Dance: £155

£385 (including charges)

 

Not included in the price
– Extra accommodation: please see our accommodation page for prices.

– Extra meals: Breakfast £5, Lunch £7, Dinner £10

– Alcohol

– Flights: The nearest airport is Almeria (1 hr 20mins drive), then Granada (1 ½-hour drive), then Malaga (2-hour drive). Fares range from £50-350 return. Malaga is often the cheapest and has the most frequent flights.

– Transport to and from the airport: Public transport, unfortunately, is rubbish. The cheapest way is to coordinate your flight times with others attending the course. We will help facilitate this and may suggest a flight time.  Here are some taxi prices from 2022.

Taxi to/from Almeria (7-seater) – €110.
Taxi to/from Malaga (7-seater) €170.
Bus to/from Malaga to Motril (Alsa bus company) – €10
Taxi to/from Motril €80.
Taxi to/from Granada €110

– Transport during your stay.

Car hire: Some of you may wish to hire a car during your stay. It is a lovely place to drive with good roads and no traffic. If you choose this option, please let us know as we have plenty of experience of how not to get ripped off by car-hire firms.

– Travel insurance: Please make your own arrangements.

– Extra lessons

– Extra excursions or activities: There are horse riding, cycling and water sports activities available nearby. If you would like us to organise any of these events, please let us know beforehand.

*If you wish to stay longer than 7 nights, please check with us to see if we can accommodate you. If we can’t for any reason, we will be able to suggest places to stay nearby.

This privacy policy sets out how Finca Ará Oko uses and protects any information that you give Bombo Productions when you use this website.

Bombo Productions is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Finca Ará Oko may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from  Jan 2020

What we collect

By subscribing to our newsletter you are permitting us to collect the following information:

• Name
• email address
• other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• Internal record keeping.
• We may use the information to improve our products and services
• We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

What is a cookie?

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Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improve the user experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests. The cookies used on this website have been categorised based on the categories found in the ICC UK Cookie guide.

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A list of all the cookies used on this website by category is set out below.

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Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• • if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at [bw_mailto admin@bomboproductions.com]

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998.

A small fee will be payable.

If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to:

admin@bomboproductions.com

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