Drums are a vital component of West African culture and are played at all important life events including marriages, funerals, harvests, celebrations, and rites of passage. In this workshop, students will experience the power of African village drumming together as a group on 30 authentic djembe hand-drums from the Ivory Coast, West Africa. As they learn African polyrhythms comprised of 3-5 rhythms played simultaneously, they will see how Africans combine self-expression with teamwork to create a village drum band.

To deepen their exploration of West African culture, classes can watch Fonziba’s documentary about living and drumming in West Africa before she comes to the school. She would then lead an insightful Q & A about the video at the beginning of each class.

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