MUSIC
EDUCATION
Rhythm is in Our Soul
African Descent Society BC has created quality music programming in its goal to spread African Descent Awareness. Below are two such programs which we have been developing.
Africana School of Performing Arts
The Africana School of Performing Arts was born out of a genuine desire to engage not only African descent youth in their cultural roots, but all who have a desire to learn African music.
It is a community based program designed to provide music skills through private lessons, performance and ensemble coaching. The program aims to teach everything from African drumming and dance workshops, to using using various instruments and teaching various music genres rooted in African music: dance hall, hip hop, soukous, Afrobeats, reggae, jazz and blues to name a few. We will range from teaching the fundamentals to developing our more senior artists by offering the opportunity to perform in live shows, and even touring initiatives.
Thanks to a generous grant from MusicCounts Canada we have been able to purchase instruments and equipment, key starting points for our program, but more is needed as we also need a cultural space to conduct our lessons and stage performances!
Drum Circle
“Drumming is primal and awakens the human desire to move and physically express oneself, making dancing, and movement unavoidable.”
Drumming has been used for thousands of years for music expression. It offers one the ability to communicate without the use of words. In today’s anxiety-ridden world, drumming offers a form of group communication that is safe and comforting to many. Even the most novice of drummers can find their rhythm, since drumming can be as fast or as slow as the leader wants to make it, as soft or hard, and doesn’t require any type of fine motor skills.
A 2016 group therapy drumming study found that drumming can:
- Offer stress reduction
- Relieve chronic pain
- Boost the immune system
- Offer deeper awareness
- Provides access to parts of the brain for healing and mindfulness
- Offers a connection with nature, a spiritual source, or higher power
- Leads to a release of emotions, trauma, and negative feelings
- Feels like part of a whole
- Offers a sense of belonging
Drums have always been a part of our African culture – they have been used in every aspect of life: to communicate, celebrate, mourn, wage war, signify peace, harvest, etc. It is with this in mind that our society has made drum circles part of our cultural programming.
In the past, we have included a 400-drum circle as part of our two-day African Descent Festival. We also include drumming as part of our African Descent Heritage Month calendar. For 2021, we are proud to introduce the Ubuntu Community Resilience Drum Circle: Mind, Body and Humanity Through Drums. We plan on providing a safe, socially-distanced environment where people can come together and release any anxiety or stress, and produce community music, especially in these times of COVID-19.
Source:
Treatment, Ashley Addiction. “Learn How Drum Therapy Helps Relieve Stress and Anxiety in Treatment.” Ashley Addiction Treatment, 21 Feb. 2020, www.ashleytreatment.org/how-drum-therapy-can-benefit-recovery.
Below are photos from our Drum Circle workshops. Click on a photo for a larger view.
Photos below are from our drum circle workshops
