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August 15th Summer Teacher Training Intensive in Asheville, NC
Check out our NEW BOOK for early childhood learners! "Drumming Numbers with Boom Ba Bee"
In this counting book for early childhood learners, we learn to count from ONE to TEN as Boom Ba Bee explores the world, meets friends, and finds a new rhythm at each stop.
Tap into the rhythm-language connection and drum along as we "say and play" our number rhythms with Boom Ba Bee!
View full article →Great NEWS! cARTwheels + Dancing Drum
Great news! Dancing Drum has been selected as a Teaching Artist for cARTwheels, North Carolina Arts Council’s Arts in Education Grant Program!
This means that you can access funding through the NC Arts Council to bring Dancing Drum your school. There is a process for applying for funding. You can learn more at this link:
https://www.ncarts.org/grants-resources/grants/grants-organizations/cartwheels-program-grants
We are thrilled to be a part of North Carolina’s rich arts community and look forward to reaching more students across the state with our new partners at cARTwheels!
Drum for Peace in Ukraine: November 13th in Asheville
Summer 2022 Teacher Training Intensive Was a Hit!
On August 15th, Dancing Drum hosted 40 music teachers from across the state at our Summer Teacher Training Intensive in Asheville, North Carolina. It was a fun, music-packed day, and we shared a wide range of activities and resources to enrich PreK-8 music programs through hands-on drumming. Check out a video of the day below!
If you’re interested in bringing a similar Professional Development program to your school district, just let us know!
How Dancing Drum Connects to National Core Arts Standards
This blog post illustrates a few of the ways that ensemble drumming and Dancing Drum can actively address each of these focus areas.
Nothing says “I am!" more strongly than playing a drum. Playing together, students co-create music, rhythms, and an educational, social-emotional experience that differs from all other classes at school. In addition to participating in drumming as a class ensemble, students conceptualize their own rhythms and create them in live performance, using composing, patterning, language, sensory-motor and other developmental skills.
In a drum ensemble, each student is responsible for their part in the music. This requires focus and teamwork, as each student presents their best effort while contributing their rhythm. Students may also have roles in group leadership, improvisation, composition, practicing, performing, and teams, all of which call for developing presentation roles and abilities.
Drumming together fundamentally requires skills like listening and responding. Teaching tools that reinforce responding include activities like "Call & Response" (or echoing), rhythm “Sculpting", and leading unison and polyrhythmic arrangements in the classroom. Students who participate in drum ensembles also practice evaluating the group's performance and respond to their evaluations by making adjustments and improvements in technique.
Through drum ensemble, students connect via their shared experience of creating rhythm and music. The word “ensemble” translates to “together” in French. We “drum together” and feel more connected to our classmates and music from diverse places around the world. We learn about the many ways that rhythm is used in traditional and modern cultures. As we practice and play drums together, we experience the success of our teamwork, and we feel invigorated by the exciting act of playing drums!
New Elementary Music PD Added: That Sounds Great! Elementary Drumming in 3/4 and 6/8
Bring the magic of drumming in 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures to your music classroom! In this highly interactive session, attendees will learn and play beginning to advanced drum rhythms designed for success and fun! Expand your student's drumming skills as they explore the fascinating world of 3/4 and 6/8! View full article →What's In Stock? April 2022 Update
As the school year draws to a close, you might be curious to know...What is currently in stock? View full article →Introducing: DRUM SAFE! Cleaner, Healthier, Better Drumming
In-person drumming workshops following the highest level of cleanliness can be extremely beneficial for students’ social, emotional, and musical well-being. We’ve always strived to keep our program safe and sanitized, but we’re moving to a whole new level of cleanliness to follow your school’s health guidelines and protocols. Here are the changes that we’ve implemented:
1) ADAPTED INSTRUMENTATION:
Our DRUM SAFE program model will utilize stick drums instead of hand drums. Students will play the drums in the Interactive Performance assembly, School Drum Day workshops, and Artist-in-Residency programs with a pair TubeStix that are easily cleaned and sanitized. Students will not play the drums with their hands, and we’ll have multiple sets of clean TubeStix to use, as needed. This approach will help us control the cleanliness of our instruments at all times.
2) SMALLER GROUP SIZES:
We will follow your school district guidelines when setting up assembly or workshop group sizes. As each school district is creating its own policies regarding maximum class numbers allowed, let us know your school’s limits, and we can design a program that works best for your students.
3) SHORTENED WORKSHOP TIME:
Depending on your school’s safety parameters and size, we may suggest scheduling shorter workshops or assemblies to allow for more sessions and more student participation during the school day.
4) MASKS & HAND-WASHING:
If your school requires that visitors, teachers, and students wear masks, we will follow your guidelines. We strongly recommend that all participants wash their hands before and after their drumming session.
If you have any questions about adapting our drumming programs to your school’s health and safety rules, please don’t hesitate to ask!
In case your school still cannot have in-person programs, Dancing Drum now offers Virtual Performance Assemblies on Zoom or other school-approved streaming platform.
Happy Peace Corps Week!
Happy Peace Corps week! I was fortunate to to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa, from 1996-98. As the PC motto says, "It's the toughest job you'll ever love." This really sums up my experience there.
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