This event invites a recognition of your body's natural state of flow. Join musician Djulz Chambers for a unique drum class that welcomes everyone, regardless of previous experience. During this class you will be guided in activating your natural movement towards an intimate connection with rhythm and community music making. You will access myriad rhythm exercises and be invited into a deep state of listening and interaction with others. The class will focus on drum and percussion music from the Djembe and Dunun traditions of West Africa's sub-Sahel. Along with drumming these ancient polyrhythmic stories, you will learn their cultural context as well as songs and chants that accompany them. All instruments will be provided, and children 12 years old and older are welcome to join.

You are welcome to view Djulz's recent TedX presentation for a prelude of her distinct style of teaching.

ABOUT WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING

The West-African Djembe and associated drum ensemble tradition first emerged from the Mandé people of the Malian empire. The Djembe drum is inseparable from the traditional bass drums, the Dunduns, as well as the bells and percussion instruments that constitute the ensemble. Together, the frequencies of sound and intricate design of the rhythms and their shapes around one another function to bring forward vibrational images with profound depth and meaning.

Djembe music is a language. By learning this language in the way it has been passed on by the masters of its tradition over time, we of Western communities can learn to listen more deeply and create music as a community that is rich with purpose and that resists the gradual erosion of ancient traditions that comes from ‘jamming’ without effort to preserve and learn from the original musical structures and techniques.

By giving our attention to the complex system of relationships within the drum ensemble, and also to the inner activity we experience directly when executing the rhythms ourselves, we can begin to appreciate something of the worldview that birthed the art - reliant on personal contact, social agreement and cohesion for its highest expression.

ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR DJULZ CHAMBERS

Djulz leads life in devotion to the percussion music of the African diaspora, and to the world view that underlies its many forms. Her love of traditional West African drum ensemble music has over the course of twenty years taken her all around the world, including lengthy periods of absolute immersion into the indigenous cultures of West and South East Africa.

She blends her personal interest in learning the techniques and structures of African percussion instruments with a sincere dedication to inner development in her delivery of unique educational and healing experiences that offer both musical instruction and keys to unlocking a deeper experience of life through pursuing the path of the drum. She has a special interest in the therapeutic effects of group drumming in the context of human development, mental health, addiction recovery and in working with all-abilities populations.