If you’ve not had the pleasure of attending any of our Unbeatable Energy workshops before, you may not have thought about the numerous ways African Drumming and Dance can help children’s health, well-being and potential to be successful.
Here are four reasons African dance schools workshops can be a key element to making an environment that is successful in your class:
1. African Drumming and Dance brings the world’s most important cultural issues to life!
A African Drumming and Dance workshop is a great activity to incorporate into Black History Month, an Africa subject or in an event such as a Cultural Diversity Day.
It’s an exciting experience for teachers and students alike, when they play the first rumble using the African Djembe hand drums. When each student plays their own drum they are able to explore a vast world of tradition, history and culture. Not just through passively reading or listening instead of actively participating and playing. In this way, they get to experience the culture and the culture that is West Africa. According to a Headteacher who was recently employed at one of our schools “It is the hands-on experiences such as African drumming that children retain and learn from the cultural aspects since they are active participants in the music , as opposed to being merely observers.’
2. African Drumming and Dance boosts children’s confidence!
It is a common occurrence in workshops where a child who is struggling with literacy and maths, or who is shy and socially disengaged in school, totally changes when they are in a drumming class. It’s like they’ve found something that “pulls” them emotionally and provides them with an emotional release.
African Dance is also a excellent way for children to develop their self-confidence. Dancers typically perform in front of an audience either by themselves or by two or three other dancers. In our classes, kids are encouraged to dance with their fellow dancers within the circle of drums. The part that they dance in is completely up to the students however, we offer gentle encouragement, telling them that the experience will make feel good afterward. After a handful of more confident kids have given the exercise a go and we begin to observe an array of children eager to give it an attempt. This is how some of the timid and shy children surprise everyone by joining in the circle and sharing their excitement in the music! The joy on their faces following this session speak to their pride in their accomplishment!
3. African Drumming and Dance gets children moving, which strengthens the brain!
African Drumming and Dance is an excellent way get children active and release their energy. African Djembe drumming increases endurance and strength in the upper part of the body, while dancing improves cardiovascular fitness and is a total exercise for the body. It is evident that this is beneficial to improve children’s fitness and well-being, but research has shown that this type of exercise can sharpen the mind, makes for happy children, and boosts the performance of children in different areas like reading and maths.
4. African Drumming and Dance improves listening skills , not only in music!
It’s a common thing that teachers saying in music classes”Listen!” For the reason that good listening skills are essential. As with all forms of music, learning African drumming can help develop various listening abilities. For instance, the ability to concentrate to a specific pattern in a poly-rhythmic piece music (multiple rhythms are played simultaneously) or to develop the ability to comprehend the sensation of the rhythm of the regular rhythm.
Whatever type of listening you need to do it is the same personal characteristic that is essential for any musician who is just beginning their career – the capacity to allow oneself the time to think and reflect on the information that has been listened to. Proficient African musicians who learn something completely new always take time to listen prior to playing because they know that their minds can easily make faulty assumptions about the information they’ve heard from what they already have learned. However, children can find it difficult to stop playing immediately!
The best part is that children are not just able to enhance their musical listening by learning African Drumming, but can apply the same technique to social situations, for instance, in conversations. If you take the time to listen to what people are talking about, you can prevent your internal conversation from making assumptions. You must truly take in the words of someone else and build a stronger feeling of trust – this is known as ‘active listening’ an essential life skill for children to master from an early age!
If you’re a school that would like to have a full day of African dancing and drumming workshops for your students or are planning the possibility of having an Africa Topic or Black History event planned and you believe we can help us, we’d love to hear from you.
