CASE STUDY dance & drumming performance

May!eld Arts Newbury HouseArt Action Toolbox: Case StudyDance & Drumming Colombia 2009 backgroundSiobhan Ross travelled to Colombia on a Youth In Action European Volunteer Service (E.V.S.) for three months in 2009 along with two other Irish volunteers. The three volunteers worked with the Centro Colombo Americano and 9 secondary schools in Medellin on a Youth Arts Festival. This festival was run as part of the Desarte Paz community art programme by the sta" of the Paul Bardwell Gallery in the Centro Colombo Americano. May!eld Arts Newbury House have been working in partnership with the Centro Colombo for many years and have also hosted Colombian volunteers in May!eld on EVS programmes. Siobhan also worked in conjunc-tion with members of Cooperacion Renovacion Cultural to facilitate the workshops. The theme of the this project was Identity and Terriitory, and each of Siobhan’s schools chose dance and drumming to express this theme. The workshops explored links and crossovers between a Colombian and African sense of identity through dance and music, to which the students incorporated their own personal movements and rhythms.

Facilitators:Siobhan Ross (Ireland), Leidy Johana Osorio Zea,Natalia Giraldo Gomez,Gislayne Patricia Pena Mazo, Javier Alberto Quiroz Valencia, andJulian Farid Vekez (Colombia)

Participants: Students from three high schools in Medellin:Educational Institution Formative Centre of Antioquia – CEFA, Educational Centre Faith and Joy Luis Amigo and Educational Institution College Bello Oriente

Centro Colombo Americano and Cooperacion Renovacion Cultural, Medellin, Colombia.

Duration: September ‘09 - December ’09

Theme: Identity & Territory

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HOW DID WE DO IT?Step 1: Enabling Creativity

Step 2: Developing The Performances

Step 3: Performing

Siobhan and the teachers explored the theme of Identity and Territory with the students. They looked at what was most important to them about their identity and sense of place, and how they could link Colombian and African identities. They decided as a group to link their own personal interpretation of the theme through movement with the learned rhythms and steps from Siobhan. One school decided to focus on dance, while the two other schools used a combination of dance and drumming. Making their own instruments out of reycled materials became part of the project plan.

With the help of dance and drumming facilitators from Cooperacion Renovacion Cultural Siobhan taught the groups di!erent African drumming rhythms and dance steps. The groups then began to explore a more personal interpretation of the theme, and created their own steps and rhythms to add to the performance. They thought about what they wanted to wear, what props or setting they would need, and how they were going to express themselves on the day of the festival through their bodies and music. The students collected materials to make drums and drumsticks and practiced alongside the dancers.

Each group celebrated a part of their identity and talents in the performance. This included break-dancing, contemporary dance and the creation of their own rhythms, all within the structured frame-work of traditional African dance steps and drumming rhythms. The groups performed on the day of the Youth Arts Festival in the Centro Colombo Americano in the centre of Medellin. Hundreds of people watched and celebrated their performances, and the students from di!erent high schools from di!erent backgrounds and locations were able to come together and celebrate each others talents.

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IMAGES & VIDEO OF THE FINISHED WORK

To view videos of these performances follow these links:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22PB4ll9N8whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlAN_bFJSlg

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