Drum Café inspires togetherness in students through music
Drum Café performers Alseny Sylla, left, and A.J. Flores lead students with African drums Wednesday, Jan. 28. Flores played a dun-dun while Sylla played a djembe.
By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
When the fifth-graders from all four Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) elementary campuses were handed their goatskin-clad djembe drums, no one had to tell them to start pummeling away: the Marble Falls Middle School gym immediately filled with music and smiles.
Members of the Drum Café, an organization that uses interactive drumming to increase cooperation and togetherness, visited 10 campuses across MFISD and Burnet Consolidated School District in just three days.
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, it was MFMS’ turn.
The Drum Café, which has South African roots, spends about two-thirds of its energy bringing its interactive drumming program to companies (including Fortune 500 companies), church and civic groups to encourage team-building among groups.
Around one-third of their time is spent in schools around the nation.
At Burnet County school districts this past week, the Drum Café brought an anti-bullying message.
To impart a message of togetherness among students, which discourages bullying, the Drum Café “uses drumming, the experience of making music, as a metaphor for the distinctiveness of each child,” said Dale Monnin, owner of Drum Café in San Antonio.
Each child plays their drum their own way using their own unique rhythm.
“Let each voice play the way its intended to play, and the result is something harmonious,” Monnin said. “It really does take a village: everyone lends a unique talent.”
The program was paid for with an Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE) grant. In fact, it was at an ACE conference last year that MFISD and BCISD ACE coordinators first saw the Drum Café drummers in action.
“We knew we had to bring that here,” said Melissa Alexander, ACE family engagement coordinator. “Every student gets a drum, so it’s interactive with the kiddos and brings a message of good character, being respectful and being a leader in their group.”
During the program, Monnin, as the emcee, invited one student from each campus to introduce themselves and then play their own rhythm, which everyone in the gym copied in unison.
“They have this energy that’s so positive, so uplifting, that you can’t get enough,” Alexander said.
Alseny Sylla, from Guinea in West Africa, was one of the drummers who exuded energy, enjoying the rhythm of the djembe drum on his hip. “I like to make the audience happy,” he said before the show. “When the audience is happy, I’m happy. When they smile, that gives us energy.”
The Drum Café was founded in 1996.
“The Drum Café in South Africa is a more raw experience,” Monnin said. “We took its essence and adapted it to Western culture.”
For more information about the Drum Café, visit www.drumcafe.com, email Info@DrumCafeSouth.com, or call 210-336-2551.
