Photo’s by Pedro Altuna at Mozaic Dance Co’s performance of Imago, December 08

Internationally renowned dancer Suraya Hilal will be in Australia in May for a week of workshops and to perform for the first time in Australia. Sarah Hamilton and I will be performing with her.
For more information and tickets for performance click to contact Casula Powerhouse

Click here to see flyer.

For more information on the Suraya Hilal Workshop email Sarah Hamilton sarahlouise1961 at hotmail.com

For more information on the work of Sarah Hamilton and I’s collaborative work see
www.myspace.com/mozaicdance

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL FOR ALL CLASSES:
send a message by clicking on Comments below.

Monday Nights: 7pm

Manic Organic- Whole Food, Organic Food, Good Food

409 Princess Highway Woonona

(entry round the back)

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Friday Nights : Kailash Yoga School

Also in Woonona | 7pm | Contact me for details
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Saturday Drum Sessions in Sydney will resume this month too! They are held in Maroubra at Midday. Contact me for information if you are interested.

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Classes will be $15 per class casual or $12 per class if you pay for 4 or more classes in a row.

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PRIVATE CLASSES

$25 per half hour

$50 for an hour

these can be done alone or shared with friends

Over the past 6 months I have been working on two projects with people with disabilities. It has been challenging, fun and rewarding. It puts progress and accomplishment in perspective. When working with people with disabilities an amazing break through may amount to someone holding a drum stick for 30 seconds, or staying awake for longer than 5 mins or choosing to be in the same room as the music rather than hiding in the next room. Working in these contexts makes it more obvious than ever that our expectations of outcomes have an enormous impact on our sense of accomplishment. Its a fine line balancing between asking enough? or too much? of ourselves or others. On one hand if we expect too little there is no room for growth or transformation … boredom and mediocrity will ensue. On the other, if we ask too much of ourselves or others we can end up feeling inadequate and/or constantly dissatisfied with where we find ourselves. hmmmm…… One of the things I have always loved about drum/performance/community projects is challenging peoples perceptions of what they are capable of. Having participants successfully perform at a festival or community event and excitedly tell me how amazed they are that they actually did it, is a great feeling. I have been thanked many times by previously dubious teachers or participants when they realise that they were indeed capable of what I was asking of them. At times encouraging people to exceed their own or others perception of what they are capable of can make people feel inadequate or uncomfortable but this in the end is an inescapable part of the process of learning anything. The ability to put ones self into situations which are new and challenging is the essence of learning, growing and transforming through out our lives….. It is one of the many conundrums of life. To excel at anything or indeed to progress in anyway requires a certain amount of feeling out of ones depth and at times feeling… unable, disabled or inadequate … in this way what we experience truly is all relative. I guess next time you are giving yourself a hard time about not being good enough at drumming, spare a thought for some of my drummers who are doing well on the days they can manage to hold a stick or get there hands to flatten out enough to hit a drum once…..

I logged in, not to write an essay about learning, but to post these photos of recycled drums which we made as part of one of the disability projects. I am really happy with the design. They were designed to be light, easy to transport have no sharp or dangerous bits and be generally difficult to break or hurt anyone with! These requirements are useful in many community drum making projects. The plastic bins have holes drilled in the bottom and around the sides. They are strung like a traditional African djembe. The skins are made out of banner material. All materials were sourced from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville except for the rope and the hole making set. The holes are reinforced with canvas and gaffer tape to stop tearing.

and here is a segment of the banner we made as part of the project. It is made up of triangles which represent what the clients favorite things are.

I have started a Thursday evening drum session in Bulli 7 till 8pm. Message me through here if you would like more information. There are regular sessions on Saturdays in Sydney too. Again just let me know and I can send you information.

Thursday the 2nd of October will see Mahri Autumn & The Chameleon Collective playing at the Ryans Hotel in Thirroul. (Upstairs with the leather lounges) I play too many instruments in this band. Vocals, guitar, accordian and drums. I will be joined by more percussion from Pedro Altuna on bongos, durabuka and things that go shake, Annalise Friend on box drum and vocals and Henry Lauer on Bass. I am really excited that Michael- John Azzopardi, Sydney based wonderful guitarist and singer/songwriter will also be playing. Check out our music with these links. . . www.myspace.com/michaeljohnazzopardi and www.myspace.com/mahriautumn

To contact me,  ask any questions or if you have any thoughts on drumming please feel free to click on any of the comment links below the posts.