"Drumming Circles" Enlivens Eliot School and Introduces Children to the Excitement of Multi-Cultural Music

 

Tom and Dan Foote of RhythmKids and a master drummer from Mali introduced Eliot students to ethnic percussion and drumming, and had the students participate in full-fledged village drum circles. The event was funded entirely by a grant from the Needham Education Foundation.
The grant team reported: “As the children settled, the sound of the master drummers boomed from behind the hall curtains, and the drummers slowly emerged pounding the drums in a strong African rhythm. “The students’ excitement was clear, as their eyes sparkled and their clapping reached a crescendo. The energy grew throughout the session, and everyone in the hall had the opportunity to play an instrument – drums, shakers, sticks, and cow bells working in unison.”
The students wrote: “The drumming circle was awesome!” (5th grader) “Learning cultural music is exciting, because it’s not music I listen to on the radio every day.” (4th grader) “I just can’t believe all the sounds were from percussion instruments.” (5th grader) “My hands hurt after the drumming program. But that’s what drumming is all about. Your hands should hurt.” (5th grader)	Three Eliot students, as they appeared in a Needham Times article: Zifel Lu, Samantha Matson and Lindsay Hazzard.