DRUMMING

Therapeutic Small Group Drum Circles
Got some worries and pressures that are taking up more of your time than they should? Join a therapeutic drum circle and drum them back to their proper place. Be one person in a small group of 8-10 people who want to deal with what is troubling them. Led by a trained therapist and a skilled professional drummer, you first share something positive. The drums voice this. You can then choose to share some of your own worries or hear the others talk about theirs. The drums voice this too. And finally, at the end of the session, the drums’ joined voices help you reinforce your sense of well being, your spirit and your gladness. Why? Because that’s what therapeutic drumming circles do.

Did you know that it has been shown time and again that therapeutic drumming circles can lower your blood pressure, reduce your stress and increase your relaxation. They can boost your immune system, increase the number of your cancer-killing cells and accelerate your physical healing. Therapeutic circles prove useful in controlling chronic pain and improving quality of life. And finally, therapeutic circles help you become more deeply self-aware, become less depressed and become more proud of yourself.
Project Rising Sun has been conducting therapeutic small group drumming circles since 2008. Sessions last about 90 minutes and are on-going.

The circles are open—members come and go as they wish and attend as often as they wish. The circles usually come together on a weekly basis one evening a week every other month. Circles accommodate holidays or unforeseen circumstances.

The size of the groups is limited, so you have to reserve a spot. Sign up to learn stress management, anger management and sadness/depression coping skills by
e-mailing us or by calling us at 302-1872 or 261-1920.

Community Drum Circles
Always wondered what it would be like to be a drummer? To have your hands connect with a drum for more than just a moment? Then join our community drumming circles and find out. Follow the lead drummer as closely as you can or add tempos of your own. Be one of many hands working together to create a wonderful rhythmic sound. Gain a sense of community.

Be rejuvenated. Be energized. Become calm. Have a rousing good time.

Did you know that circlers are having a rhythm party? That community drum circles use cooperation and collaboration as their basic glue? That the circles can produce those magical musical moments where one powerful voice is created out of the many? That community circles are fun, healthy and inspiring? To learn what other good things you can do for yourself, read the section on therapeutic drumming. It's even better.

 

To see our upcoming community drumming events, please check our web site calendar.

 

Many of our neighbors host community drum circles, including St Anna's Episcopal Church, Israelite Baptist Church, River of Hope, New Salem Baptist Church and the Treme Cultural Center. These events are open to anyone who wishes to attend. Drums are on site and are ready to be used by you.

At some of our events, we also host a drum-making seminar, so if you want to learn how to make your own drum, come join us!

Kudos!

Project Rising Sun: Therapeutic Drum Circles for the Whole Community!

By Mariel Boyarsky
Community Outreach Fellow at REACH NOLA

Project Rising Sun is a local non-profit whose mission is to improve community and mental health in New Orleans.  What makes them unique from many other organizations with a similar mission is the way in which they use therapeutic drumming circles to reinforce participants' sense of well-being and self-awareness.  

Every Wednesday evening from 6:00-7:30, Project Rising Sun hosts a drum circle at their office at 427 Esplanade Ave, across the street from the Old U.S. Mint.  The goal of these Wednesday evening sessions is to bring together providers and clients for therapeutic drumming.  "Recipients of care need to see that their providers are also human, and that they, too, need self care," says Fenwick Broyard, Program Manager of Project Rising Sun.  "The reality is that all of us need to embrace self care."  The advantage of doing this through African drumming, adds Broyard, is that "everybody's got an interest in music."  At drum circle, participants get to contribute something to the music of the group.   "Making music with other people is in itself a healing process," says Broyard. 
 
Laura Taishoff, Education Advocate at Juvenile Regional Services, regularly attends the Wednesday evening drum circles.  "After a day of work, nothing feels better than tuning everything else out and simply focusing on my hands hitting the drum, and the beat," says Taishoff.  "It is the most restorative and calming thing in the world." 
 
In addition to the Wednesday evening drum circles for the general public, Project Rising Sun works with Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, a local non-profit that helps middle school students to rethink the way their schools are run, and with Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center, where they provide African drum lessons for a group of elementary to middle school-aged kids every Saturday.  They also bring their collection of beautiful djembe drums to special events, like the Treme-7th Ward Resource Fair/PNOLA Kids' Fair that took place on Saturday, May 15th of this year.  When a sudden rainstorm forced many people at the Fair indoors, Fenwick Broyard and Angie Bachemin of Project Rising Sun facilitated a vibrant drum circle replete with spirited dancing. 
 
This past school year, Mallory Falk, Campus Organizer at Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, has had the opportunity to work with Fenwick Broyard and Angie Bachemin on a weekly basis.  Falk, Broyard, and Bachemin facilitated a Rethink club at Live Oak Elementary School, where they worked with a group of 7th and 8th grade students.  They urged the students--mostly boys--to use the drums as a form of self-expression.  "We met out in the yard, playing 'Simon Says' on the drums," said Falk.  "Fenwick and Angie bring so much light and energy into Rethink clubs and schools.  Their drum circle provides kids with a much-needed space to release stress and really shine. 
 
'Simon Says' is a game that Angie Bachemin often facilitates at the Wednesday evening drum circle for providers.  Drumming participants learn a "vocabulary" for beating on the drums--things like "open notes," "closed notes," and "slaps."  Then, the drummers go around in the circle and introduce a beat, Simon Says-style, and the other participants copy the beat.  The group will play together for a few minutes, and individuals have the opportunity to beat out a solo on top of the group beat.

The drum circles are free and open to the public, and no drumming or musical experience is necessary.  Project Rising Sun even provides the drums--so come on out and play!

For more information about Project Rising Sun, contact contact Sue Pfluger at info@projectrisingsun.net or 504-261-1920.

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