CASE STUDY
colombian & african dance & drumming
Location: Ennismore Retreat Centre Mayfield, Cork June 2009
MCAC ART ACTION TOOLBOX: CASE STUDY Street Performance
Theme: Global Citizenship Mayfield Arts Newbury House Art Action Toolbox: Case Study Colombian & African Dance Globalfest 2009 background Globalfest is a youth arts festival coordinated by Mayfield Arts Newbury House in Cork every summer. In 2009 groups of young people from Sweden, Hungary, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Colombia travelled to Ireland to engage with young people from Cork in creative workshops that lead to exhibitions and performances on the day of Globalfest. The visiting young people travelled to Ireland on a European Volunteer Service that is funded by the European Youth in Action programme. The Colombian facilitators are from the organisation Cooperacion Renovacion Cultural in Medellin. The facilitators guided the participants in Colombian and African dance and drumming, exploring the theme of global citizenship. The participants and facilitators performed the dances and drumming rhythms they learned in this week of workshops at Globalfest ‘09 in the Bishop Lucy Peace Park in Cork City.
Facilitators: Siobhan Ross (Ireland), Natalia Giraldo Gomez, Javier Alberto Quiroz Valencia, Bibiana Quiroz, Leidy Johanna Osorio Zea (Colombia) Participants: Manaces, Anibal (Guatemala), Osman (Nicaragua), Victor, Cecilia (Sweden), Deirdre, Roisin, Jessica, Dave, Michael, Claudia, Linda, Sarah, Rachel, Jennifer, Niamh, John (Ireland)
HOW DID WE DO IT?
MCAC ART ACTION TOOLBOX: CASE STUDY Street Performance
Step 1: Getting Started The workshops began with warm-up games and activities to help the group get to know each other and overcome language barriers. We made up charts of useful English and Spanish words and phrases we would need for the workshops. The Colombian facilitators then told the group about their dance and music organisation Cooperacion Renovacion Cultural in Medellin, Colombia, and Siobhan showed the group a video of her dance and drumming experiences in Senegal, West Africa. The facilitators explained we would be learning both African and Colombian dance and drumming and combining them in two performances.
Step 2: Learning the Colombian and African Dance & Rhythms
The participants seperated in two groups, one to learn Colombian drumming, and one to learn African dance. Then the groups swapped to explore African drumming and Colombian dance. Siobhan introduced the group to basic rhytms on the West African Dundun and Jembe drums, which we built on over the week. The Colombians used different drums and techniques, which the group also had the opportunity to explore. In the dance workshops steps were practised seperately and then put together in sequence, and finally accompanied by the drummers. The two dance performances accompanied by the drummers started to come together in preparation for the day of Globalfest.
Step 3: Performing at Globalfest 2009 The group practiced their performances as much as they could before the day of Globalfest. Where everyone was going to be positioned on stage was decided upon, and the costumes were arranged, thanks to Siobhan who offered the dancers material she had brought from Senegal. The group did two performances on the day of Globalfest on stage in the Bishop Lucy Park to a large audience. The final performance was an interesting mix of dance and drumming styles and techniques, and most importantly it was a fun experience!
quotes from the audience
An energetic and amazing dance and drumming performace!
MCAC ART ACTION TOOLBOX: CASE STUDY Street Performance
Michelle McCarthy
To view the performances follow the links below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVN-xz8N-Qs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqHqdTpgWSU&feature=related