woo hoo, more drumming!

[chelidon]

After having been rather immersed in drumming for some years, followed by a number of years of it being on the back burner, drumming has re-entered my life as a major influence. I've always loved what an immediate, physical, visceral medium it is, and what a great way it is to very tangibly work in my body with so many esoteric concepts and skills, from social dynamics to energetic sensing and manipulation, to timing, intution, and the cycles of life. Drumming is not a metaphor (though it of course can be, in so many ways) -- it is right here, right now, and hands-on.

I find myself more and more involved in working/playing with, helping teach, and facilitating skill-sharing among drummers and folks who want to be drummers, across at least five states over the next several months. But I haven't had any contacts with local drummers since we moved up nawth -- though I know there's supposed to be a very active New England drumming community, and some folks close to where I am, I just haven't crossed paths and hooked up with local folks yet. I still have contacts in Boston, but that's too far to go on a regular basis, particularly on weeknights. So yesterday two of my Lovely Housemates came back from a roving hunt-and-gather with a flyer from these folks. And they have affordable regular weekly classes starting, er, tomorrow, about 30 minutes from my house, at one of the few times in the week that is actually convenient for me. And it's all West African traditions and techniques, which is at the root of much of my own drumming experience, and a tradition in which I am intensely interested and to which I feel a strong attraction. So I get a good excuse to practice regularly, get some external feedback from drummers more experienced and skilled than myself, learn new rhythms and techniques, and clean up my own techniques before I teach my bad habits to others ;> And I get a convenient way to get together with other drummers weekly, make contacts and deepen my own understanding of the techniques and philosophies of the tradition that forms a large part of the core of my own drumming experience.

Sweet. I love good timing.

Comments

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

That's awesome. Sounds like fun. I like the guys's paintings, too.

[mystfemme.livejournal.com]

That rocks! I loved dancing in your drumming circles here. Drumbeats go straight to the soul and make you mooooove from the inside out.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Tejas has such a great bunch of drummer and dancers, it was such a joy last year to play with y'all. I'm looking forward to more of the same and even better at camp this year, and at Wild Flower in just a couple of weeks!