Community Engagement & Workshops

Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers

For our education work we work with community groups, as well as formal, and informal education settings and institutions.  We regularly provide workshops in West African percussion, djembe drumming, balafon, song, dance, and storytelling – which can be one off-events or structured courses tailored to your needs.

Our workshops have developed cross-cultural exchange, and have reached out to young people, elders, prisoners, disability groups, LGBT communities, and even a valleys male voice choir! In doing so we have raised awareness, undertaken outreach, and provided positive Black role models that inspire and excite new learners, planting the seeds for new artistic interests and experiences. We have engaged disaffected young people and provided a route into exploring identities through music and culture. Many of the young people we have taught have roots in the African diaspora but have no knowledge of their cultural heritage in terms of African music, rhythms, songs, and traditions. Involvement in our workshops promotes confidence through learning new skills, but also supports the development of positive self-identities, and are a much needed antidote to the plethora of negative Black stereotypes common in mainstream media. In particular we are proud of the work we have done in partnership with National Museum of Wales, HMP Parc Bridgend, and Butetown Arts and Culture Association in Cardiff.

Our work with elders groups in Newport through Age Cymru similarly has a range of benefits including reducing social isolation, learning new tricks, boosting self-esteem, improving communication, as well as ‘brain training’ exercise. Accessibility has been key to our approach, and several of our workshops have been BSL/English/Welsh interpreted.

We provide all the instruments needed for face to face workshops, however we can also source instruments for anyone interested in purchasing their own.

Since 2022 we have also provided workshops at Green Man festival:

 

During the COVID-19 crisis we have also reached out online and were able to deliver live workshops via Facebook and YouTube as part of Adult Learner’s Week.  Check out our sample workshop videos for djembe and balafon below. If you are interested in booking sessions either for groups or 1:1 please:

 

Testimonials