The Traditional Skills - Drumming workshop was a different group from the hockey team, high energy and great grooves Participants were mostly students (some who had real drum circle experience!), but also a community member, a faculty member, and a few kids; it was neat that people came out to participate on a Thursday night! It was also great to have the help of the Sustainability office staff to promote the session, and to have a staff member there to help out with setup (and to drum as well).
The students really wanted to play, and mid-stream I decided this one would be better served to do some great drumming together, talk a bit about the traditional aspect of drumming, and to teach some basic ethnic rhythms. So, I skipped the debriefing exercises, except by quickly checking in about how the drumming rounds felt.
As far as my continuing goal to improve my drum circle facilitation skills, these two experiences felt like stepping stones to a higher level of familiarity with my own personal style and approach to group drumming. Being prepared for both (by outlining the session) made me more comfortable during the experiences, and more flexible to change in mid-course, because I know my overall goals. Keeping these goals in mind--practicing debriefing exercises and deepening my facilitation skills--helped me integrate the learning and apply it to my life. Who knows, there may be opportunities for repeat sessions.
One area of improvement for next time: I wish that I had prepared more information about the roots of ethnic drumming (from West Africa, etc.), and also brought in more of the research I've done on drumming in American Indian culture. I decided to make this circle more about drumming than teaching or lecturing, but perhaps in the future I could structure it with a bit more interspersed information--though I did provide some information brief tidbits about traditional/indigenous drumming.
Overall, a really fun circle, and good learning experience!
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