With much anticipation and change of venues finally the day of the event that we were all kind of waiting for had arrived. The drum circle was something we had all only heard about and seen videos of some place. It seemed like a lot of fun and a perfect stress buster, but to experience it was something we had all been looking forward to.
This event essentially was an awareness and fundraiser for Child Rights and You (CRY) – an organization dedicated to restoring the rights of underprivileged children. Netip also collaborated with ‘The Green Elephant’, a small start up company that deals in fair trade, hand made and environmentally friendly products. TGE distributed beautiful handmade gifts to all the donations for free that afternoon.
Kat Fulton – a multi talented musician, was our drum circle lead. She has done her masters in Music Therapy from Florida State University and has also provided thousands of rhythm-based events for various corporate and professional groups, wellness retreats, staff development workshops, team-building events and retirement communities.
Kat had bought in a truck load of drums; big and small, thin and fat, short and tall, all kinds. There were shakers for kids, a guitar and other really cool instruments, some of which we hadn’t ever seen before. The event location was at Balboa Park, amidst nature, trees and a pleasant quiet with a few kids around.
Cry and Netip volunteers helped set up chairs and the drums under the shade of a tree, in a circle along with a couple of tables holding information fliers for Cry , the free gifts from The Green Elephant and some yummy cake for our guests.
Initially, under the lead’s guidance, three to four people started learning basic drumming techniques and playing. We were taught how to compose & pass the beat, calling and responding without really talking and few other world beats. Before we realized our group grew to a bigger circle of 15 to 20 people including a few passer’s by and kids. They were so infected by the fun we were having with music that they felt compelled to join in! This actually was one of the intentions behind holding the event in a public place – to introduce outsiders to our group and our cause.
I must admit, Kat was very patient with all of our “curious George” queries put forth to her one after the other during the entire duration of the event. At the end of it, everybody was a wee bit wiser than before about drums, drumming and music on the whole.
In between, Cry volunteers introduced the organization to the group, spoke about its work around the world and answered queries. It was a small 20 to 25 minute discussion but very informative and engaging. All the participants shared their ideas and thoughts with keen interest on the work of Cry.
In the last half hour, the group took over the drums in Indian style! Bhangra and Garba rhythms were played on Kat Fulton’s drums. By now the teacher had swapped places with us and was learning new beats from us! Having the Indian beats playing in now, it was inevitable to end the event with a round of few bollywood songs. The group seemed like it could go on singing and drumming all day. Kat says “I feel so energized after this experience, you guys are awesome!” And from our end, we are all so thankful to her for introducing us to the fun of music and drumming!
The last few minutes were dedicated to Cry fundraising, membership enrolment and cake eating. We all went our ways thereafter, revitalized, energized, with fond memories and many new friends! May be we will do it again soon!
