Drums, Songs and Stories Celebrating Cultural Collaboration
My Most Popular K-12 Assembly Program!
Starting and ending with the haunting sounds of Overtone Singing from Central Asia and making stops around the world, “Beyond the Borders” celebrates how cultures come together and influence each other.
A World of Vocals:
A combination of several different vocalization styles from Tuvan/Mongolian Overtone Singing, to Tibetan Undertone Singing all mixed in with Throat Whistling and a kind of African Yodeling, accompanied by Siberian Shaman Drum
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Curiosity: An old African story that I’ve turned into an “Olde” Irish song. Accompanied by Irish Bodhran and plenty of audience participation.
Funga Alafia: an African welcoming song and rhythm. I invite several audience members to join me on stage and with the help of the audience we create an African Polyrhythm. Watch me perform Funga Alafia live!
Jack N The Beanstalk: Traditional European story turned into a song accompanied on guitar with traditional Mississippi Delta Blues (an African derivative style)
The Silkie: This is an old Irish Story that has a lot in common with many Eskimo (Inuit) tales. Primarily seals that turn into human being and vice versa. I play the wooden whistle at the beginning and the end accompanying the chorus with Bodhran. I usually ask for a volunteer from the audience to play the ocean drum as accompaniment.
Depending upon the situation, time available, the theme, the age mix of the audience and my intuition, I may move at this point into a spoken (rather than sung) story: Picking one of several possible choices:
A very funny African story which I tell in a very modern way. It works for all age groups but especially well for younger audiences who may need to lighten things up at this point in the program. (It is also lighter on the sound effects so there is no time spent handing stuff out etc).
Skeleton Woman:
An Inuit tale about personal transformation. It is fairly serious but has a few funny parts that make for perfect comic relief. It has a lot of Sound effects possibilities.
Coyote & Cicada:
A Native American tale explaining why Coyotes howl and have sharp teeth and why Cicada’s shed their skin. quite funny with a modest amount of sound effects. Most audiences enjoy the opportunity at the end of the story to get in a good “Howl”. Watch a Video of Coyote & Cicada Performed Live
Overtone Singing to finish…
Instruments Used: Djembe, Djun-Djun, Bodhran, Shaman Drum, Guitar, Wooden Whistle/Flute
Sound Effects: Wind Tubes, Thunder Tubes, Thunder Drum (the Djun-Djun), shakers, Ocean Drum & more…
To book this program now call 203-804-1208 or use the handy contact form below!
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