Tickets: $40 per workshop
Time: 6 PM-8 PM
Dates: January 15th, February 12th, March 11th
Location: The Chocolate Church Arts Center in the Annex
Are you interested in learning how to play West African drums?
We still have available spots in our upcoming workshops! In addition, we are excited to announce that thanks to the support of the Live Music Society, we are offering both partial and full scholarships and subsidies for those who would like to attend but find the cost to be prohibitive. Don”t miss out on this amazing opportunity to learn and play!
Welcome to West African drumming with Barbara and Eric vanBok! Between the two of us, we have 40 years of experience playing drums and teaching students, and we are quite passionate about musical and rhythmic education. Our drumming tradition comes from the Malinké people of Guinea, West Africa, and we have been fortunate enough to study with modern Djembe and Dunun masters, such as Famoudou Konaté, Sayon Camara, and Mamady Keïta, as well as many others.
Each 2-hour workshop will be self-contained, as we will focus on creating a complete rhythm during each class. In every workshop, we will explore Djembe, (W. African hand drums) and Dunun, (W. African bass drums) and everyone will get a chance to play each type of drum. Along the way, we will experience new ideas, rhythmic entrainment, synchronicity, and perhaps sometimes confusion, as it’s all a part of bringing new rhythms and musical expressions into the mind, emotions, spirit, and body.
Everyone, including complete beginners, are welcome as we will start with the basics. More advanced students will get appropriate opportunities to lead certain parts if they desire. Remember, no matter our perceived level, as musicians we are continually students and we have much to learn from each other- teachers included!
We are excited to present this workshop series in conjunction with The Chocolate Church and are looking forward to seeing you there!
A few notes to add on to help everyone out:
If you have a Djembe or a Dunun, please feel free to bring your own.
If you need a Djembe, please let the Chocolate Church know when you register.
Please refrain from wearing rings or dangling wrist jewelry as they can damage the drum heads.
Purchase workshops by clicking on the images on using the button below.