This is a weekend of immersion in universal wisdom, musical tuition and storytelling that will expand your musicality and strengthen your creative energy. Chris’ Bana Kuma (meaning ‘sacred altering’) is a knowledge system utilising universal elemental archetypes as keys to deepen and ground our process of self-realisation. This weekend immersion offers a translation of this cosmology into music inspired by the percussion and melodic traditions of the African diaspora. It invites you to play a part in the transformational process that ensues between thought and its manifestation in the context of community music-making under the guidance and direction of master composer and performer Chris Berry. Check out this video to learn more about Chris’ Bana Kuma offerings around the world.

Returning to Australia after several years from his home in Hawaii, Chris will be joined by Australian teaching musicians Elliott Orr (Djembe, Dunun and Calabash), Djulz Chambers (Djembe, Dunun and Mbira) and Cameron Norton (Mbira). This two-day immersion will be held at the Revillaging Project, Mornington Peninsula. You will be offered the option of focussing on Mbira or Djembe/Dunun for the two days, and invited into a daily all-inclusive dance class based on the expressive movement of West to South-East African dance. All streams of mbira, percussion and dance will be co-ordinated into a full ensemble piece to be performed as a live offering for our friends, family and the Revillaging community on Sunday night.

This two-day immersion will include vegetarian lunch and snacks/chai prepared in accordance with Ayurvedic dietary principles. Older children are welcome to join us, and kids under 9 are free. Everyone is welcome to enter into either stream with any level of previous musical experience. Note that there is a PAYMENT PLAN OPTION for the full Weekend Immersion. After paying your initial deposit, you will be emailed with codes enabling you to pay the rest off in two goes. We acknowledge how far we're all stretched in these times, and hope that this supports you!

ABOUT CHRIS BERRY

Grammy award winner Chris Berry is an eclectic singer and songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and high-energy performer and teacher. From his beginnings as an aspiring Mbira player during Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe, he has shared his powerful Afro-infused sound, warmth of heart and inspirited teaching style with people around the world for over thirty years. He has released over a dozen albums, scored several film soundtracks and collaborated with some of the world’s most far-reaching contemporary artists including Eminem, Bill Kreutzmann, Youssou N’dour, Baaba Maal, Thomas Mapfumo, Manu Dibango, Xavier Rudd, Trevor Hall and many more. In recent years Chris has invested his energy in grass-roots community projects, bringing a lifetime of experience within the indigenous music systems of Africa and a unique approach to empowering the Western mind towards the most urgent needs of our social organisations at this time. For more information on Chris’ work and music, please visit https://www.chrisberrymusic.org/ or search your favourite streaming platform to listen to his music.

ABOUT THE TEACHING TEAM

DJULZ CHAMBERS

Djulz Chambers is a teaching percussionist who has been working with and studying West African music traditions since 2006. Her initiation into the arts was in Burkina Faso and Mali, where she studied with custodial musicians and was the recipient of traditional knowledge that lay the foundation for her playing and teachings today. For more information about Djulz and her business Soul Circles Drumming, please visit www.soulcirclesdrumming.com.

ELLIOTT ORR

Widely respected as the leading proponent of African Drumming in Queensland and NSW, musician Elliott Orr has been cultivating and sharing his deep love and knowledge of West African Djembe and Dunun music and their applications for over thirty years. His passionate and light-hearted teaching style creates a wonderful atmosphere for learning, sharing and celebration. For more information on Elliott and his business Talkin’ the Drum, please visit https://www.facebook.com/talki....

CAMERON NORTON

Cameron Norton is an Mbira player and leading meditation teacher for the Art of Living in Melbourne. His background as a trumpeter in Western orchestral music and deeply engrained understanding of the developmental process that music supports gives him a unique knowledge base and approach towards Western-educated people beginning their journey with this ancient instrument.