Announcing our newest class offering for 2016!
Intro to Middle Eastern Drumming
Thursdays 5:30-6:30 PM:Â starting Feb. 4th
Expand your awareness of rhythm, sequence, sound, and synchronicity, and learn to drum for belly-dancers! If you are already a dancer, deepen your understanding of musicality by studying the origins of the beats that move you!
In this class, students will learn ancient rhythms from the cradle of civilization, rhythms that are still heard on the radio today. These rhythms persist because connect to our early human roots, as natural as a heart beat. The drum inspires hope, movement, empathy, and visceral urges, which all lead to DANCING. You will learn to impart joy when you share this music, more so by co-creating rhythms within a group of your classmates at Bella Diva Dance.Â
The course will cover the Basics of Arabic Drumming. Students will learn how to play basic sounds on the Doumbek and drill specific rhythms to continuously improve in speed and sound quality. Bella Diva will provide Doumbeks to play in class, but eventually, you are encouraged to have a drum of your own so you can practice at home!
Students will learn the most common Middle-Eastern rhythms and their variations including Baladi, Masmoudi, Malfuf, Saidi, Maksoum, Ayoub, and Chiftitelli. We will also learn how to hold a Turkish-style jam session in a group and eventually perform as an ensemble to accompany belly dancers!
Meet the Instructor:Â Theo DramaÂ
Theo is an experienced group facilitator and teacher: a founding leader of Denver Drum and Dance, math tutor/teacher, and private Doumbek lesson instructor. He is also a performer who has appeared playing the Doumbek at Cervantes Otherside in Denver and across the Front Range. Theo spent years shaping his musicianship, starting with piano at five-years-old. After his parents moved his family to Austria when he was six, they would bring young Theo to the symphony, sometimes to see his father conduct.
Back in the US, as a teenager, Theo kept learning new instruments and spent six years in choruses at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. When Theo stumbled upon a video of Onur, a Turkish Doumbek drummer, he passionately resolved to reach for that kind of freedom of expression. Now for the last four years, Theo has been fervently training with the Doumbek. Theo has learned from several Doumbek masters and has studied with Raquy in person at her Darbuka camp in upstate New York.
Theo’s patient, people-loving personality makes him a natural teacher, and his belief that music is meaningless unless shared, fuels his drive to share his passion and love for this instrument.
