YWDEP features at OCU CREATIVE SHOWCASE, Dec. 2

WHO: Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project

WHAT: CREATIVE SHOWCASE

WHERE: St. Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St NW

WHEN: Sat Dec. 2 6-9 p.m.

Directions/Other

I'm writing to invite all to the One Common
Unity CREATVIE SHOWCASE happening this Saturday, Dec.
2 from 6-9 at St. Stephens Church in Washington, DC -
1525 Newton St. NW.

The young women of YWDEP, along with a host of other
creative acts will be featured. The event is a
membership drive for OCU, which is the fiscal sponsor
of YWDEP and other organizations who are working
through arts and media to build a more peaceful and
sustainable planet. The event will offer $10
vegetarian plates from Whole Foods, and the show is
planned to be broadcast on PUBLIC ACCESS TV. See below
for more details and hope to see you there!

One Common Unity Hosts Creative Arts Showcase & Membership Drive Saturday, December 2nd
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Washington, DC – One Common Unity, Inc. (OCU), a DC-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, whose mission is "to create sustainable communities through innovative peace education, arts and media," will host a creative program showcase & membership drive featuring various initiatives and projects currently sponsored and supported by OCU.

This creative showcase will take place on Saturday, December 2nd, 2006, from 6pm until 9:00pm at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church, 1525 Newton Street, NW , Washington , D.C. A donation of $5 - $10 is suggested for admission. Vegetarian Dinner plates, graciously donated by Java Green & Whole Foods Tenleytown Market, will be available for $10. Proceeds will benefit OCU. All are invited to attend.

The purpose of this showcase is to build One Common Unity's membership base through increasing the number of annual donors; while simultaneously, introducing the Washington, D.C. community to OCU's strategic partnerships, creative projects and youth initiatives sponsored, including Revel Youth Shine (RYS), the Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP), ShantiSalaam, The Movement, DC Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency (GPI), DC-ICE (Inner City Excitement), Beyond the Global Divide, and Share a Moment of Love.

This showcase community event will celebrate ShantiSalaam' s, OCU's first international, arts-based innovative peace education project, departure on December 3, 2006, for South Asia, specifically India and Pakistan, to promote peaceful relations between the two countries. With an anticipated return to DC on January 27, 2007, Indian and Pakistani artists and musicians in this program, will unite under the titled "ShantiSalaam" and together tour universities located in their
respective countries to promote unity and conflict resolution.

In attendance will be OCU's Board of Directors and members of its Advisory Council. The dynamic evening, filmed by DC Public Access Television video cameras for the creation of a special documentary, will be interlaced with musical performances, poetry, live community mural painting, and a special art auction. During the Creative Showcase, an official announcement will be made to herald the launch of OCU's new website and the opening of its newly founded "Creative Arts and Healing Center," in partnership with Abram's Creek Retreat and Campground, Allegheny Mountain, West Virginia.

Founded in 2000, OCU initially was focused on providing alternatives to violence for DC youth through community events and festivals, as well as facilitating workshops in public schools, fostering creative self-_expression through poetry & music. Now in its sixth year, OCU has expanded its mission to include peace education, conflict resolution, cross-cultural and intergenerational engagement, and creative activities that immerse young people in nature, cultivating respect for themselves, others and the natural world, while also learning about new and innovative ways to make their communities more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

By sponsoring an array of projects, OCU continues to expand upon its network of peace educators and creative artists both locally and internationally in an effort to fulfill its mission of sustainable community development.

For more information about One Common Unity's Creative Showcase & Membership Drive, please call Hawah Kasat, Executive Director, at (202) 529-2125 or email hawah@onecommonunity.org.
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Ladies DRUM Night ROCKS

WHO: Women of the Palisades

WHAT: Ladies Drum Night Out

WHERE: The Home of the Illustrious Laura Lee

WHEN: last Tuesday, Nov. 28 2006

Directions/Other


Laura Lee, an amazing lady I know through my drumming classes at Circle Yoga Studio loved drumming so much that last year she decided to invite all of her cool friends to a drumming party at her home in the Palisades neighborhood of DC. And thus began LADIES DRUM NIGHT OUT (LDNO).

These sort of became a phenomenon all their own and i doubt they exist in many other places - at least not quite in the same way. The women come - most of them in their 40s and with crazy busy lives. Laura's place is beautiful and she always has a spread. Several different kinds of wine plus hors d'oervers (sp?). Not snacks - hors d'oervers. There's a lot of catching up and chatting when I arrive with my 15 or so large West African djembes. Laura plays some music on the stereo - usually something with a good beat to get folks revved. Everyone's affectionate, curious, excited for what's to come. They put down their wine glasses when i enter - and they come outside to my car to pick up drums, weighing anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs.

We heft the drums back to the house and start moving furniture around. Laura's got a beautiful cracklin fire going - there's always a decision to make about where to put the wine/food altar. This time - which was our 5th LDNO - I insisted that the food go outside the circle so that the energy could flow better. This necessitated a couple of wine breaks during the session, which is always welcome and fine, regardless of the awkwardness of drums and wine together.

This is something I want to explore further as well. In the West African drumming communities from which I've acquired knowledge and understanding, I have never seen beer or wine mixed with drumming. It's a very spiritual practice and one in which a person must be grounded BEFORE playing, as well as maintain proper posture and body composition and breath support WHILE playing. In a word, it's a sobering act - though it brings you the kind of natural high that can never be gained through a substance. Perhaps because it IS substance.

Regardless, you gotta give these ladies CRED. FULLY.
How many women approaching middle age from wealthy neighborhoods DO this sort of thing? And so much is offered to me - and I consider all of it a form of a blessing - including the wine. So we all partake - with wine breaks in between drumming - though the altar is outside the circle the bottles slowly move to the center, and while I'm going around the circle teaching them the "slap" by demonstrating it on the other side of their drums, i knock the wine over on the carpet, and laura doesn't even flinch. she's cool - very down to earth lady and i am constantly amazed at her ability to stay that way.

So I talk about the culture because it's very important to me to relay what I know - we are not playing drums we are playing DJEMBES. And Ashikos, plus my one wonderful Bougarabou. Then I talk a little about how the drums are used to heal in today's culture. They get a laugh at my reference to how drumming helps to stave off Alzheimer's disease and helps improve nerve function in Parkinsons patients...and how it can keep off dimentia. None of them are even close but I enjoy the laughter. I always give my plug too about YWDEP - and this past drum night out we gained a new YWDEP member to my delight.

We learn the basic notes of the instrument and I teach them a rhythm - 2 parts usually and they play them together. We sound good. We raise the freakin roof. Then we jam - we add one drummer in at a time and bring out the bells and shakers and make it happen. I "woo!" here and there and remind folks to listen, use my voice to change the dynamics and end with a solid heartbeat and everybody's eyes are closed and we fade out - then begin a roll that starts on the bass and moves to the tone and then the slap, louder and louder, until we are looking up at the ceiling and screaming (or wanting to). And everyone stops and in the silence you can feel molecules of positivity and joy.

They hoo-rah. I feel complete.
And then they give me hug.
And they pay me WELL.

Though I marvel at watching the girls in YWDEP grow and become incredible young women drummers and poets, though I would never even think to compare the two situations, the feeling I get after coming from the LDNO is one I want more of, because it is completely regenerating.

Thanks, Laura.

Truth from Sophie B.

Check out this audio clip about women and drumming from groovemaster Sophie B. Hawkins.

Drumming with Baile

WHO: Drumming Lesson

WHAT: Baba Baile

WHERE: Baile's African Drum Works

WHEN: Last Tuesday night

Directions/Other somewhere in Forestville, MD


I've been looking for a private drum instructor for some time - someone to lock down my djembe technique - tell me the truth - get me up to speed with everything i need to know to move ahead with my playing. I first came to this conclusion after taking 4 group djembe lessons with djembe master Mahiri Keita. Son of Guinean Djembefola Mamady Keita. After the first lesson with Mahiri I had learned 3 new drills to practice - all of which I've incorporated into my planning. I learn fast and practice diligently when I have someone watching over me and lending guidance. So i wrote Mahiri a letter on Aug. 25 - the subject line was, literally, "will you be my teacher?" Outlined in this email I explained all the reasons why I want a private teacher. In short:
A. Improve my technique
B. Gain a greater understanding of the instrument and of the culture
C. Expand my repertoire of rhythms and drills

An excellent teacher must also be an excellent student - I'm a strong believer in that philosophy. Unfortunately, I never received a reply from Mahiri or any sort of acknowledgement of the email I had sent him. So - I called Tammi Hessen. Tammi and I had one private lesson together, in addition to my joining her all-women's Baltimore-based drum troupe BUMBADA on a couple of shows. We go way back - travelled to the 2005 Catskill Mountain Women's World Drum & Percussion Happen'n, which was in itself a bonding experience. In short, Tammi rocks, and is the woman who most inspired me to get my own women's drum class up n runnin. So i asked her what might be up with Mahiri - "he's probably busy," she said, "and email's not the best way, did you try calling him?" I hadn't. Maybe I didn't have the guts or something. She said he would probably refer me to his group classes at Joe's Movement Emporium. Then she said - "What about Baile?"

Baile. I remembered taking 6 very small djembes to Baile in the spring of '05. I'd purchased them from Ken at Eyeclopes Studios in Fredericksburg, VA. That was quite a memory in itself - trekking out to Fredericksburg late one night with Alexandra - through some pretty scary tree-lined, skinny highways, getting lost, stopping at a weird rockabilly diner and winding up singing "black water" by the doobie brothers for kareoke - so so strange. But at any rate, I was hoping Baile wouldn't mind helping me out with tuning them.

When I got there - a tall man with thick glasses and thick eyebrows led me in and sat me down. Here's what I remember from that evening:
-Being questioned on my motives for wanting to teach drumming to DC inner-city youth (fair enough)
-Being told my drums were for babies - not adult-sized people - and that the physics of smaller drums made it so that the "bass" sound character showed up in the tone and slap
-Philosophical discussions that ran wild for over an hour - about culture, race, youth, modernism, tradition, gender, etc....

I left having my mind blown, basically.
Or at least my cover.

I had a couple friends take Baile's group class last year, however, and they wound up as much better players. I remembered that. So regardless of my slight trepidation, I called up Baile. We talked for 45 minutes. He asked why I wanted to take lessons (see points A, B and C above). He then asked why I wanted to take them from him. Then he asked had I ever seen The Karate Kid, The Golden Child, or Romancing the Stone? He instructed me to view these movies as soon as possible, for they all had some common bits of wisdom which he would not relate to me at that time - okay. He then asked me what I took from the phrase "through the eyes of a child" (my apologies to Baile here - the phrase was along these lines, but slightly different). He was sizing me up, let's just say. But by the end of the conversation we had set up a time to meet.

TUESDAY NIGHT - NOV. 14
I began my trek to Forestville by attempting to take PA Ave all the way out until it meets with Forestville Rd. This was a huge mistake. i was perhaps 1 mile from crossing the DC/MD line when I pulled over on Potomac Ave, convinced I should get off and take the metro. I called Alex for some consultation, and found that to take public transportation I would need to take a train to a bus, wait for a bus for about 20 minutes, and then get on a bus. Anyway, it would take just as long as driving. So I called Baile - and he gave me a very succint alternate route via Suitland Parkway. It was still hell, but much better. I arrove 30 minutes later than our original meeting time. But it was OK.

First he wanted to know what I knew about my drum.
What kind of wood was it made of?
"I don't know" is what I told him. "That's a good answer," he said.
I told him I wanted to say walnut, b/c that's what it looked like, but that I didn't think walnut was a popular wood type found in West Africa. As it turns out, the wood is called Khardi. I went back to the website where I bought my drum to get the spelling right. He complimented my drum. Then he asked what I knew about drums from Guinea. I referred to their recognizable shape (more bowl-shaped), and he shot that down too. There are many tribes in Guinea. It's a big country. Drums are built and used for many different purposes. I told him that my information came from a few different sources - but understood what he was saying. You cannot pinpoint where any drum is from unless you have a deep knowledge of the tribes and their cultural practices.

"We are all part of this bigger picture. Some people see it's shaped as a circle; to others it's egg-shaped. We all fit into this somewhere - our natural tendencies and backgrounds and everything that makes us who we are - all of this puts us into a certain place in the whole picture. You have to decide where you belong in that picture - and it may be that where you THINK you belong is actually not where you belong. Do you follow me?"

Somehow - I did - I really was following him, seeing as how I am currently attaining self knowledge right now by necessity - I am creating space for myself to grow - trying to fend off patterns of abuse of the past. I am emerging, you could say. I think this is what he was talking about, in some respects -- where do I plan to EMERGE?

Finally, after about an hour of this type of discussion, he asked me to play. When I brought the drum close, he asked what I knew of the spine of the animal - I think he was a little more impressed by my answers to these questions. The spine of the animal is in the center of the drum head - purposely - because it is the strongest part of the drum, and it is recommended that a djembe player play on either side of the spine - though I'm not sure why - possibly because there is greater resonance when the drum is played here.

He corrected my tone.
He corrected my slap.
He gave me 4 solid drills to practice, and I was very happy and I told him so.

I'm going back on Dec. 2 for my 2nd attempt to impress the unimpressable -- Baba Baile.

YWDEP Performs at AU - Thursday Nov. 9

WHO: Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project

WHAT: The Goddesses of Rhythm perform "Elements of the Drum" to benefit Women for Women International

WHERE: American University's Battelle Building Atrium, on the main quad

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Directions/Other

Friends -

Just writing to inform all of you that the Goddesses of Rhythm will be sharing their work with audiences at American University this Thursday Nov. 9 as part of a benefit for Women for Women International. We're thrilled to have this opportunity to perform our entire show once again - if you missed the show at DC Arts Center this past September, then we'd love to see you there!