Young Women Drum Up Empowerment in YWDEP's 3rd Annual Summer Enrichment Program!

WHO:YWDEP

WHAT:Summer Program Kick Off!

WHERE:St. Stephens Church, 1525 newton st NW 20010

WHEN: Saturday, June 16 12-3 p.m. and thereafter....

Directions/OtherColumbia Heights metro/S2-S4 busline

For the third year in a row, the Young Women's
Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP) is preparing to
serve up loads of empowerment-infused expressive arts
workshops this summer, ending in a final public
performance that's sure to drop jaws.

YWDEP uses drumming, spoken word poetry, song,
movement and performance to empower young women's self
expression, self esteem, communication and leadership
skills, and strives to create a safe space for a
diverse group of young women to build camaraderie and
acceptance. YWDEP was founded in 2005 by
artist-activist Kristen Arant, and has grown immensely
over the past two years.

"I applied for a grant from the DC Arts Commission in
'04, basically after encouragement from a friend. I
didn't think I would get it," remarks Arant, 32, who
started out playing oboe and picked up the drum when
she became an activist. "Basically, I know what it's
like to be a teenager - all the challenges young women
face - and I know what brought me through that period.
It was music, dancing, and writing poetry."

After its first summer program in 2005, YWDEP held 4
public performances that simply astounded audiences.
"The young women found a safe space at YWDEP. They
flourished - their voices came out and loud; their
creativity soared. Their brilliance had the
opportunity to finally be seen and heard," Arant said.

The performances include everything the young women
study during the summer program. They take workshops
with incredible artists in poetry, song-writing,
movement, performance technique and more. Arant
teaches them how to play the djembe, a West African
drum that she has studied for seven years. Each year a
new group of young women get to know each other
through team building and working collaboratively to
produce their own performance. The young women come
from all over DC and some from Prince George's County,
MD. The group is diverse in every way - girls who
would not have spoken to one another in school
hallways become friends. They support one another and
build up each other's confidence.

This year, YWDEP boasts extraordinary workshop leaders
including local poet and publisher of Girl Child
Press, Michelle Sewell; Performing hip-hop artivist
The Princess of Controversy; Award-winning actress and
playwright Anu Yadav; Labor Chorus leader Elise
Bryant; Sol y Soul poets Sage Xaxua Morgan-Hubbard and
Regie Cabico; and the Mother of Movement, dancer
Binahkaye Joy.

In the past two years, YWDEP held its summer workshops
every Saturday afternoon; this year it is adding a
Wednesday evening session called "All Drumming, All
the Time."

"We spend a lot of time on Saturdays in team building
and engaging in our poetry, song, movement and
performance workshops," Arant said. "We realized that
drumming needed more attention, so we've devoted an
evening to it."

In addition, YWDEP houses a Mentorship Program, which
trains girls from previous years to mentor new girls.
The goal is for newbies to feel engaged and suppoorted
from the start. This summer, Nancy Umanzor, a
first-year YWDEP graduate, will be serving as the
project's Mentorship Coordinator.

"As the mentorship coordinator, I feel that it's a
huge resonsibility, but I know the YWDEP staff and
mentors will support me throughout the summer," said
Umanzor, 18. "I'm enthusiastic about meeting the new
group of girls who will join YWDEP this summer, and am
confident that our mentors will be able to meet the
challenges that YWDEP will have in store."

YWDEP is still taking applications for young women
ages 13-18. Young women must agree to attending the
majority of summer workshops in order to be accepted
into the program. An application is available online
at www.youngwomendrum.org.

Sessions are every Saturday 12-3 and every Wednesday
evening 6-8 p.m. from June 16-Aug 26. Performance
dates are TBA, but will likely be during the last week
of August. All sessions take place at St Stephens
Church, 1525 Newton St NW in Columbia Heights, DC.

Donations to help support YWDEP are always appreciated
- more information as well as a paypal option are on
the website.